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While common, computer presentations given during classroom lectures do not always improve learning effects; thus, this study incorporated three elements into technology-assisted classroom lectures: emphasis, augmentation, and integration. These three elements cannot be implemented simultaneously when using PowerPoint (PPT) presentations during classroom lectures. Therefore, the virtual and physical integration of augmented reality (AR) was employed to establish an assisted course lecturing tool for implementing these three elements. Teachers can refer to important content from textbooks (emphasis) while lecturing, and students can then use an AR device to scan the content and to call out related supplementary materials (augmentation) in facilitating their learning. These scanning and calling out functions of AR enable teachers to integrate technology-assisted tools with textbooks to enhance the effectiveness of classroom lectures. The pre- and posttest quasi-experimental research design was used to determine differences in the learning outcomes of two groups of AR-assisted and PPT-based course lectures. The experimental results indicate that the AR-assisted lecture was significantly more effective than the PPT-based lecture, and a similar result was obtained from a delayed test. According to interviews held with students, during the AR-assisted lecture, the students tended to focus on only one teaching medium and on the textbook content. By contrast, students of the PPT-based lecture became distracted while focusing on two different media sources simultaneously, resulting in the textbook content often being neglected.

Aerosol type plays a critical role in the relationship between aerosol optical depth (AOD) and particulate matter (PM) mass concentration. Here, we present a mathematical formulation of how PM...

校務研究的思維是以一套系統性的資料蒐集模式，能幫助大專院校自我研究分析，發掘校務治理問題，提供決策時的客觀參考，是提升高等教育品質與學校永續營運的重要方法。另一方面，學校行政具有主導學校營運的功能，對學校內的各類資源需做妥善且適當的規劃，因之，校務研究的管理思維若能融入學校行政，增進創新行政作為，大專院校應能達成總體發展目標。本研究以國立 S 大學為例，探討該校行政管理考核制度導入校務研究思維，並結合資訊化方式形塑出屬於 S 大學的管理考核模式，運用該專業機制，進行各項校務發展計畫執行、追蹤、考核、回饋與改善之管理，確保各項校務工作執行成效與品質。案例分析結果顯示，S 大學的管理考核制度融合了校務研究資訊支持反饋圈的概念，並履行了校務研究的五種角色，同時兼具品質控管及績效考核的管理方式，促使行政工作者的工作目標與校務目標有效整合，如此不但促進了 S 大學行政效率及效能的提升，並可從 S 大學逐年提升的世界大學排名得到佐證。藉此案例分析，期可作為其他大專院校推動校務研究及施行校務管理的參考。 Institutional research (IR) is a kind of systematic data collection, which enables the self-assessment action of the higher education, finds out the problems of the school affairs and governance, and provides the data based information for related decision making. Thus, IR is an important approach to improve higher education quality to contribute its sustainable development. The administration has a function which can guide the university’s operation appropriately, which should combine the IR cogitation closely to improve the progress of the university’s overall goals. This study takes public S University as a case and investigates its administrative management which integrates the IR cogitation and joints to informationization. S University develops its special oversight and evaluation system to check school affairs planning, tracking, evaluating, feedback, and improvement, and ensure these affairs’ performance and quality. Based on the case study results of S University, we find the administrative oversight and evaluation system of S University not only combine the IR information support cycle but also implement the 5 roles of IR. By both quality control and performance appraisal of this system, the goals of administrative staffs and school can effectively integrate. This mechanism ensures the effectiveness and quality of administrative affairs and attains proof from the world university ranking of S University. By this case study, we wish to provide some views of IR study and implementation for other institutions.

Studies on teaching of reading strategies have found that summarizing is of tremendous help to reading comprehension. However grading students’ summary writings is laborious, but given the importance of summarizing, an effective summarizing learning module is important. This study developed an automatic summary assessment and feedback system based on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) to provide score, concept and semantic feedback, and then investigated the effects of concept and semantic feedback on the writing of summaries by students in the sixth grade. The design involved two between-subject factors: semantic feedback (with, without) and concept feedback (with, without). 120 sixth-grade students from an elementary school were recruited for the study, and then were randomly assigned to each group. The overall results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed system in improving the summary writing skills of students. The effects of semantic feedback and concept feedback were also discussed.

Mobile devices such as laptops, personal digital assistants, and mobile phones have become a learning tool with great potential in both classrooms and outdoor learning. Although there have been qualitative analyses of the use of mobile devices in education, systematic quantitative analyses of the effects of mobile-integrated education are lacking. This study performed a meta-analysis and research synthesis of the effects of integrated mobile devices in teaching and learning, in which 110 experimental and quasiexperimental journal articles published during the period 1993-2013 were coded and analyzed. Overall, there was a moderate mean effect size of 0.523 for the application of mobile devices to education. The effect sizes of moderator variables were analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages of mobile learning in different levels of moderator variables were synthesized based on content analyses of individual studies. The results of this study and their implications for both research and practice are discussed. This is a meta-analysis and research synthesis study for mobile-integrated education.110 published journal articles that were written over a 20-year period were coded and analyzed.The application of mobile devices to education has a moderate mean effect size.The effect sizes of moderator variables were analyzed.The benefits and drawbacks of mobile learning were synthesized.

Long-range transport (LRT) of air pollutants from East Asia during the northeast monsoon season impacts several downwind locations. In 2020, the initial COVID-19 lockdowns in China overlapped with Week 3 of the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday, and an Asian outflow event. Thus, movement of the Chinese populace from city to city was already greatly reduced by the time of the LRT episode, although the reductions in industrial output are less clear. We found NO2 column concentrations were reduced by 24% during the CNY Week 3 this year compared to previous years. The attenuated transport event arrived to northern Taiwan with a PM2.5 concentration, Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • COVID-19 lockdown in China reduced long-range transport of air pollution to Taiwan. • OMI NO2 over central-north China reduced by 24% compared to previous years. • PM2.5 concentration in northern Taiwan 2 times lower compared to similar episode • CMAQ simulation with 50% reduced emission in China matches measured PM2.5 in Taiwan. • Avoided PM2.5 pollution equivalent to 0.5 μg m−3 reduction for entire winter season

The vertical distribution of aerosols is important for accurate surface PM2.5 retrieval and initial modeling forecasts of air pollution, but the observation of aerosol profiles on the regional scale is usually limited. Therefore, in this study, an approach to aerosol extinction profile fitting is proposed to improve surface PM2.5 retrieval from satellite observations. Owing to the high similarity of the single-peak extinction profile in the distribution pattern, the log-normal distribution is explored for the fitting model based on a decadal dataset (3248 in total) from Micro Pulse LiDAR (MPL) measurements. The logarithmic mean, standard deviation, and the height of peak extinction near-surface (Mode) are manually derived as the references for model construction. Considering the seasonal impacts on the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH), Mode, and the height of the surface layer, the extinction profile is then constructed in terms of the planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) and the total column aerosol optical depth (AOD). A comparison between fitted profiles and in situ measurements showed a high level of consistency in terms of the correlation coefficient (0.8973) and root-mean-square error (0.0415). The satellite AOD is subsequently applied for three-dimensional aerosol extinction, and the good agreement of the extinction coefficient with the PM2.5 within the surface layer indicates the good performance of the proposed fitting approach and the potential of satellite observations for providing accurate PM2.5 data on a regional scale.

Thermal infrared (TIR) satellite images are generally employed to retrieve land surface temperature (LST) data in remote sensing. LST data have been widely used in evapotranspiration (ET) estimation based on satellite observations over broad regions, as well as the surface dryness associated with vegetation index. Landsat-8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) can provide LST data with a 30-m spatial resolution. However, rapid changes in environmental factors, such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, and soil moisture, will affect the dynamics of ET. Therefore, ET estimation needs a high temporal resolution as well as a high spatial resolution for daily, diurnal, or even hourly analysis. A challenge with satellite observations is that higher-spatial-resolution sensors have a lower temporal resolution, and vice versa. Previous studies solved this limitation by developing a spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model (STARFM) for visible images. In this study, with the primary mechanism (thermal emission) of TIRS, surface emissivity is used in the proposed spatial and temporal adaptive emissivity fusion model (STAEFM) as a modification of the original STARFM for fusing TIR images instead of reflectance. For high a temporal resolution, the advanced Himawari imager (AHI) onboard the Himawari-8 satellite is explored. Thus, Landsat-like TIR images with a 10-minute temporal resolution can be synthesized by fusing TIR images of Himawari-8 AHI and Landsat-8 TIRS. The performance of the STAEFM to retrieve LST was compared with the STARFM and enhanced STARFM (ESTARFM) based on the similarity to the observed Landsat image and differences with air temperature. The peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) value of the STAEFM image is more than 42 dB, while the values for STARFM and ESTARFM images are around 31 and 38 dB, respectively. The differences of LST and air temperature data collected from five meteorological stations are 1.53 °C to 4.93 °C, which are smaller compared with STARFM’s and ESATRFM’s. The examination of the case study showed reasonable results of hourly LST, dryness index, and ET retrieval, indicating significant potential for the proposed STAEFM to provide very-high-spatiotemporal-resolution (30 m every 10 min) TIR images for surface dryness and ET monitoring.

The purpose of this study was to understand children's visual attention during shared storybook reading when the print and picture area sizes are identical, as well as to understand which electronic storybook design is best able to increase children's attention to the print and their print awareness. To this end, we modified the electronic storybook's design, measured children's print awareness, and used an eye-tracker to measure children's visual attention during reading. Sixty-one 4–5 year old Taiwanese children's data were analyzed in this study. This study was conducted over a 6-week period: one week for pretest, four weeks of intervention, and one week for posttest. After the pretest stage, the kindergartners were split into three groups: traditional storybook, highlight synchronization (implicit instruction), and print discussion (explicit instruction). The results suggested that: First, when the print and picture area sizes were identical, children spent more than 19% of their time looking at the print area, substantially higher than previous studies (e.g. Evans & Saint-Aubin, 2005; Justice, Skibbe, Canning, & Lankford, 2005; Roy-Charland, Perron, Boulard, Chamberland, & Hoffman, 2015); second, the highlight synchronization design did entice children to look at the print more (from 19% to 38% reading time); third, exposure to either the reading highlight synchronization or the print discussion storybook designs for four weeks improved the children's print awareness.

Textual analysis has been applied to various fields, such as discourse analysis, corpus studies, text leveling, and automated essay evaluation. Several tools have been developed for analyzing texts written in alphabetic languages such as English and Spanish. However, currently there is no tool available for analyzing Chinese-language texts. This article introduces a tool for the automated analysis of simplified and traditional Chinese texts, called the Chinese Readability Index Explorer (CRIE). Composed of four subsystems and incorporating 82 multilevel linguistic features, CRIE is able to conduct the major tasks of segmentation, syntactic parsing, and feature extraction. Furthermore, the integration of linguistic features with machine learning models enables CRIE to provide leveling and diagnostic information for texts in language arts, texts for learning Chinese as a foreign language, and texts with domain knowledge. The usage and validation of the functions provided by CRIE are also introduced.

Simulation and manipulation play vital roles in teaching procedural knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. However, most studies in these fields have only focused on learning effectiveness rather than on students' collaborative problem-solving (CPS) processes and cognitive processing patterns in problem-solving activities. This paper aims to analyze learners' cognitive processing patterns in a CPS teaching activity that integrates Facebook discussion tools and simulation-based teaching software. The participants in this study included 45 students from the College of Management at a university in northern Taiwan. These students took an elective course titled “Introduction to the Network.” This study used a quantitative content analysis (QCA) to code the online discussions and to explore the represented cognitive levels. Next, a lag sequential analysis (LSA) was conducted to analyze the coding results of the QCA to assess the behavioral patterns during the discussion process. The results indicate that students' network troubleshooting abilities improved over the course of the study. The learners' discussion patterns and cognitive levels during the activity are analyzed and discussed here. Differences in sequential cognitive processing patterns were found between the “discussion-centered” and “manipulation-centered” groups. The findings of this research may serve as a reference for instructors of STEM classes when integrating social networking services (e.g., Facebook) and CPS when designing virtual learning activities to improve learning effectiveness and increase cognitive levels.

The intervention effects of mobile learning have become one of the most popular topics in education research. Despite scholars critiquing the quality of mobile learning research, there is an obvious lack of quantitative studies exploring the design quality of experimental studies of mobile learning as well as tools for self-checking and improving experimental design. Based on the newly developed CREED (Checklist for the Rigor of Education-Experiment Designs), which focuses on the internal, construct, and statistical-conclusion validities of research, this study investigated the experimental research designs of mobile-learning studies. By analyzing 342 experimental studies published in refereed journals from 2006 to 2016, this study found that 72% of the mobile-learning studies exhibited experimental designs with a low or medium-low level of rigor. The mobile-learning research suffered from methodological limitations such as a lack of baseline equivalence between the experimental and control groups, not examining the fulfillment of statistical assumptions for specific statistical methods, poor quality of outcome assessment tools, and insufficient statistical powers. This study concluded that while utilizing advanced technologies, mobile-learning research employs laggard methodologies compared with standards proposed in educational and psychological research. Recommendations for overcoming these limitations are provided for use in further research and practices.

The present study builds on our previous study within the framework of Wyer and Collin's comprehension-elaboration theory of humor processing. In this study, an attempt is made to segregate the neural substrates of incongruity detection and incongruity resolution during the comprehension of verbal jokes. Although a number of fMRI studies have investigated the incongruity-resolution process, the differential neurological substrates of comprehension are still not fully understood. The present study utilized an event-related fMRI design incorporating three conditions (unfunny, nonsensical and funny) to examine distinct brain regions associated with the detection and resolution of incongruities. Stimuli in the unfunny condition contained no incongruities; stimuli in the nonsensical condition contained irresolvable incongruities; and stimuli in the funny condition contained resolvable incongruities. The results showed that the detection of incongruities was associated with greater activation in the right middle temporal gyrus and right medial frontal gyrus, and the resolution of incongruities with greater activation in the left superior frontal gyrus and left inferior parietal lobule. Further analysis based on participants' rating scores provided converging results. Our findings suggest a three-stage neural circuit model of verbal humor processing: incongruity detection and incongruity resolution during humor comprehension and inducement of the feeling of amusement during humor elaboration.

Online reading is developing at an increasingly rapid rate, but the debate concerning whether learning is more effective when using hypertexts than when using traditional linear texts is still persistent. In addition, several researchers stated that online reading comprehension always starts with a question, but little empirical evidence has been gathered to investigate this claim. This study used eye-tracking technology and retrospective think aloud technique to examine online reading behaviors of fifth-graders (N = 50). The participants were asked to read four texts on the website. The present study employed a three-way mixed design: 2 (reading ability: high vs. low) × 2 (reading goals: with vs. without) × 2 (text types: hypertext vs. linear text). The dependent variables were eye-movement indices and the frequencies of using online reading strategy. The results show that fifth-graders, irrespective of their reading ability, found it difficult to navigate the non-linear structure of hypertexts when searching for and integrating information. When they read with goals, they adjusted their reading speed and the focus of their attention. Their offline reading ability also influenced their online reading performance. These results suggest that online reading skills and strategies have to be taught in order to enhance the online reading abilities of elementary-school students.

A Web/spl I.bar/Soc tutoring system for recursion concept learning is proposed. The system integrates different modes of learning, synchronous and asynchronous, collaborative and individualized, into a World Wide Web (WWW) environment. The paper proposes a collaborative learning protocol. Based on the protocol, the principles of the Socratic dialogue are applied to the collaborative learning of recursion concepts. In order to evaluate the effects on learning of the Web/spl I.bar/Soc system, an educational experiment was conducted. The results show that the effects from the Web/spl I.bar/Soc system were more obvious than merely studying articles.

Although graphic strategies, such as graphic organizers and knowledge maps, have proved helpful for text learning, certain important application issues such as surface processing and cognitive overload have yet to be resolved. The authors tested the learning effects of a concept-mapping strategy. They designed 3 concept-mapping approaches—map correction, scaffold fading, and map generation—to determine their effects on students' text comprehension and summarization abilities. The experimental results from 126 fifth graders showed that the map-correction method enhanced text comprehension and summarization abilities and that the scaffold-fading method facilitated summarization ability.

A concept map, typically depicted as a connected graph, is composed of a collection of propositions. Each proposition forming a semantic unit consists of a small set of concept nodes interconnected to one another with relation links. Concept maps possess a number of appealing features which make them a promising tool for teaching, learning, evaluation, and curriculum planning. We extend concept maps by associating their concept nodes and relation links with attribute values which indicate the relative significance of concepts and relationships in knowledge representation. The resulting maps are called attributed concept maps (ACM). Assessing students will be conducted by matching their ACMs with those prebuilt by experts. The associated techniques are referred to as map matching techniques. The building of an expert ACM has in the past been done by only one specialist. We integrate a number of maps developed by separate experts into a single map, called the master map (MM), which will serve as a prototypical map in map matching. Both map integration and map matching are conceptualized in terms of fuzzy set discipline. Experimental results have shown that the proposed ideas of ACM, MM, fuzzy map integration, and fuzzy map matching are well suited for students with high performances and difficult subject materials.

The purpose of this research is to develop a programming learning system for beginners using the completion strategy. The completion strategy uses well-designed programs to let students engage in completing, modifying, and extending their programs. The completion strategy is a paradigm of learning by examples with learning enforcement. In this paper, learning theories of the completion strategy are investigated. A template technique is employed to realize the strategy. An educational experiment was made to show the learning impact of the proposed system. The experimental result shows that the completion strategy is benefit to the programming learning for beginners.

An unsupervised classification technique conceptualized in terms of neural and fuzzy disciplines for the segmentation of remotely sensed images is presented. The process consists of three major steps: 1) pattern transformation; 2) neural classification; 3) fuzzy grouping. In the first step, the multispectral patterns of image pixels are transformed into what we call coarse patterns. In the second step, a delicate classification of pixels is attained by applying an ART neural classifier to the transformed pixel patterns. Since the resultant clusters of pixels are usually too keen to be of practical significance, in the third step, a fuzzy clustering algorithm is invoked to integrate pixel clusters. A function for measuring clustering validity is defined with which the optimal number of classes can be automatically determined by the clustering algorithm. The proposed technique is applied to both synthetic and real images. High classification rates have been achieved for synthetic images. We also feel comfortable with the results of the real images because their spectral variances are even smaller than the spectral variances of the synthetic images examined.

The aims of this research were to develop guidelines for designing interaction tasks for learners of Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) and to investigate the attitudes of CFL learners toward a full CFL class in Second Life (SL). Three research questions were addressed in this research: (1) what are the attitudes of CFL learners toward the language learning tasks in SL? (2) what kinds of social interactions emerge from learning activities in a CFL class in SL? (3) how do those activities benefit CFL learners in the learning of Chinese in SL? Two studies were conducted to tackle these questions. The cognition, usage, and expansion (CUE) model was proposed based on the findings obtained from study 1 and then implemented and evaluated in study 2. The findings of study 2 indicated that the activities run in the CUE model were effective at motivating CFL beginners and improving their oral communication and social interactions. Based on the video data analysis, three criteria were proposed for designing learning activities. Suggestions are also made for future research on CFL teaching/learning in SL.

Embodied semantics theory asserts that the meaning of action-related words is neurally represented through networks that overlap with or are identical to networks involved in sory-motor processing. While some studies supporting this theory have focused on Chinese characters, less attention has been paid to their semantic radicals. Indeed, there is still disagreement about whether these radicals are processed independently. The present study investigated whether radicals are processed separately and, if so, whether this processing occurs in sensory-motor gions. Materials consisted of 72 high-frequency Chinese characters, with 18 in each of four ries: hand-action verbs with and without hand-radicals, and verbs not related to hand actions, with and without hand-radicals. Twenty-eight participants underwent functional MRI scans while reading the characters. Compared to characters without hand-radicals, reading characters with hand-radicals activated the right medial frontal gyrus. Verbs involving hand-action activated the left inferior parietal lobule, possibly reflecting integration of information in the radical with the semantic meaning of the verb. The findings may be consistent with embodied semantics theory and suggest that neural representation of radicals is indispensable in processing Chinese characters.

In this study, an approach in determining effective mixing weight of soot aggregates from dust–soot aerosols is proposed to improve the accuracy of retrieving properties of polluted dusts by means of satellite remote sensing. Based on a pre-computed database containing several variables (such as wavelength, refractive index, soot mixing weight, surface reflectivity, observation geometries and aerosol optical depth (AOD)), the fan-shaped look-up tables can be drawn out accordingly for determining the mixing weights, AOD and single scattering albedo (SSA) of polluted dusts simultaneously with auxiliary regional dust properties and surface reflectivity. To validate the performance of the approach in this study, 6 cases study of polluted dusts (dust–soot aerosols) in Lower Egypt and Israel were examined with the ground-based measurements through AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET). The results show that the mean absolute differences could be reduced from 32.95% to 6.56% in AOD and from 2.67% to 0.83% in SSA retrievals for MODIS aerosol products when referenced to AERONET measurements, demonstrating the soundness of the proposed approach under different levels of dust loading, mixing weight and surface reflectivity. Furthermore, the developed algorithm is capable of providing the spatial distribution of the mixing weights and removing the requirement to assume that the dust plume properties are uniform. The case study further shows the spatially variant dust–soot mixing weight would improve the retrieval accuracy in AODmixture and SSAmixture about 10.0% and 1.4% respectively.

The problem of wiring a channel of movable terminals in a VLSI chip is presented. Two subproblems are addressed: maximum alignment and wireable placement. Maximum alignment is to reassign terminal positions in the channel in order to maximize the number of nets that can be implemented as straight connections. Wireable placement is to find an assignment of the movable terminals to the vertical tracks in the channel that eliminates the vertical conflicts between nets. A restriction is imposed on the number of unconnected terminals in the maximum alignment problem to ensure that the number of columns in the channel is not increased in the process. The two subproblems are solved using two heuristic algorithms. Some well-known examples, including Deutsch's difficult example, are used as test cases. The results show that both channel width and via usage are reduced significantly by using the procedures. >

The effect of hydrogen on the corrosion behavior of sintered NdFeB alloyed with different elements (Co-V and Nb) is compared using electrochemical galvanostatic and potentiodynamic polarization measurements in 6M KOH. Experimental results show that cathodic currents inject or 'charge' hydrogen into the NdFeB lattice, which can then be oxidized or 'discharged' by the application of anodic currents. Corrosion resistance can be quantified in terms of exchange currents which are shown to be a function of hydrogen content and selection of alloying elements.

Via minimization is the same as the layer assignment problem in VLSI or PCB routing. It consists of determining which layers can be used for routing the wire segments such that the number of vias can be minimized. A heuristic algorithm is presented to globally eliminate the vias in the three-layer channel routing. Some associated constraints, such as restricted terminals and adjacent limitation, are addressed extensively. According to the results, the algorithm is fast and efficient, thus generating very good results. >

Three-dimensional (3D) modeling based on an ensemble of multilayer self-organizing (SO) neural networks is described. Our objective for 3D modeling is to construct a representation of a 3D object shape from sensed surface points acquired from the object. Current modeling techniques can be classified into two categories: the static and the dynamic approaches, where the former grounded in computational geometry, and the latter rooted in the mechanics of elastic materials. In this paper, a neural-based dynamic modeling approach is presented. The method used is proved to converge and experimental results are shown which support its applicability to real problems.

A linear time algorithm for routing over the cells is presented. The algorithm tries to reduce maximum channel density by routing some connections over the cells. The algorithm first defines a new scheme for channel representation and formulates the problem based on an intersection graph derived from the new scheme. Then, a feasible independent set of the intersection graph is found for routing some subnets over the cells. The algorithm is implemented and evaluated with several well known benchmarks. In comparison with previous research, our results are satisfactory, and the algorithm takes substantially less CPU time than those of previous works. For Deutsch's difficult example, the previous algorithms take about 29.25 seconds on an average but our new algorithm needs only 5.6 seconds.