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The purpose of this paper is to explore the teaching methods for Basic Design, aiming at cultivating creative thinking for the design beginners. Based on the basic features of the mathematical thinking, this paper presented the new teaching methods - “abstract problem”, “accurate limitation” and “permutation and combination as well as comparison” in view of the characteristics of “selection”, “breakthrough” and “reconstruction” in the creative thinking of the modern design methodology. The paper also pointed out the relationship between logical thinking and intuitive thinking in applying the above methods and the scope that the above methods could be applied to the practice of teaching. In addition, the paper emphasized the final purpose of the above methods was to form a methodology for cultivating creative thinking instead of having a detailed method. The new teaching methods are useful for improving the quality of teaching for Basic Design, which aims at cultivating creative thinking for the design beginners, and enhance the creative thinking of the design beginners. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When the student is not able to solve a given problem, a plausible deductive reasoning process should be offered to him/her. Our final goal is a development of an e-Learning system which could help students not too much and not too little so that they can acquire as much deductive experience of independent work as possible. In the paper, we illustrate a solution plan graph which is a plausible deductive reasoning material with a concrete word problem. Our guiding principle for conducting the deduction is the thinking method of “working backwards” from the unknown. The paper also illustrates the details of the working backwards method. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper describes our web publication of visual teaching materials for business mathematics. The objective of the web site is to familiarize students with our visual approach for business mathematics at early stage. The significant advantage of visualization is that seeing the materials leads to better understanding of the mathematical process. Even if the students cannot understand the algebraic calculation process, they can intuitively understand the essence, only seeing the visual materials. The feature of our developed teaching materials is utilization of three-dimensional graphics and its animations. Just watching the animation, students can see the points, even if they have no idea about operations on the web. In the paper, we will illustrate the typical economics problem named the Marshallian demand function. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper aims to investigate some properties of the overlapping words. A word w is called an overlapping word if there exists a nonempty word v such that v (1/2)lg(u). In the meanwhile, an overlapping word is a d_1-word if it is not a d_2-word. The characterizations of d_1-words and d_2-words are studied in this paper. The procedure of constructing the d_2-words is provided. We also study the characteristics of d-primitive word preserving homomorphism, d_1-word preserving omomorphism, and d_2-word preserving homomorphism. Furthermore, the relationships between d-primitive word preserving homomorphism, d_1-word preserving homomorphism, and d_2-word preserving homomorphism are considered. We have the following results. The d-primitive word preserving homomorphism is d_1-word preserving and the d_1-word preserving homomorphism is d_2-word preserving. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purchasing plays an important role in the logistics management. Since the price of materials fluctuates constantly, to revise the formulated material purchasing strategy timely is a necessary procedure to reduce the operating cost. This paper proposes a method to find the revising purchasing quantity of the original strategy in the price fluctuating situation. This method combines with the idea of the financial risk measurement technique of CVaR under the assumption that the decision maker is the type of risk aversion. This paper proves the effectiveness of the method and verifies it with an application case. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A.S. Fraenkel introduces a new (s, t)-Wythoff's game which is the generalization of both a-Wythoff's game and Wythoff's game. Fraenkel determines all P-positions of (s, t)-Wythoff's game under normal play convention. In this paper, the (s, t)-Wythoff's game under the misere play convention is investigated. Both the set of all P-positions and optimal strategies are given. Our results also provide answers to a-Wythoff's game and Wythoff's game under the misere play convention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the national Japanese junior high school mathematics curriculum, students are required to understand the number of sides and vertices on regular polyhedrons. In the case of regular polyhedrons having 12 or more sides, it was found that improvement in the existing classroom technology was possible. We surveyed and evaluated solutions using recently available Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) technology for application in the junior high math classroom. The preliminary result shows that interactive 3DCG using AR is effective for learners of concepts in platonic solids. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents how ternary representation of numbers can be utilized to compress text data with fixed-symbol-length coding techniques. We use a binary map for ternary digits and introduce a method to use the binary 11-pair, which has never been use for coding data before, and we further use 4-Digits ternary representation of alphabet with lowercase and uppercase letters. We find a way to minimize the length of the bits string, which is only possible in ternary representation thus efficiently reducing the length of the code. We also find some connection between this technique of coding data and Fibonacci numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Decisions in a complex practical problem is usually a multistep process. Decision makers are interested in such dynamic information: if we increase certain inputs to a particular production activity, how much more outputs could it produce? Whether the current input scale is proper for its output return? If not, how to achieve the proper input scale? This paper treats these questions as POST-DEA problems. POST-DEA analysis is concerned with studying the possible influence in the available optimal solution as a result of making changes in the original model parameters, or searching for possible adjustments in the model parameters when certain optimal results need to be achieved. By combining BCC model and Elasticity Analysis model, POST-DEA analysis is preliminarily illustrated by a numerical case. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The last decade or two has witnessed a rapid evolution of the technological world with the introduction of fast processors loaded with higher amount of cache memories. Accordingly, the system architecture demanded better development to suit the rising demand for the technological advancements. Miniaturizations of components and VLSI integration have given rise to bulk advanced memory chips being grafted on even smaller amount of space thus giving access to higher amount of physical memory within exhaust limits of average applications. But the low end processors having limited memory still crave for fast applications, which are slowly going out of bounds for these devices due to the space and time complexity. The four elementary operations - addition, subtraction, multiplication and division form the basis for any type of application. Out of the four, the latter one, namely division, is a highly expensive and time consuming operation. This paper proposes a fast division algorithm based on Ancient Indian Vedic Mathematics Sutras for low end processors having limited memory. The novelty of the algorithm is that it requires a very small amount of memory for execution but performs the division mechanism much faster than the conventional division algorithms in literature, and is equally suitable for high end processors also. The algorithm has been tested on conventional mid range desktop processors and has furnished results with numbers having number of bits greater than 50 (15 digit numbers), the upper ceiling of computable numbers for conventional algorithms. It has been observed that the Vedic Division Algorithm can divide numbers having up to 38 digits (127 bits) in the present form, if modified it can divide even bigger numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

European Universities have been exposed to major changes in order to implement the so called Bologna process. Many facets have had to be addressed in the teaching-learning system, moving from a teacher-centered model to a student-centered one, where a competence-based structure had to be facilitated, and so that the basic competences related to the integral formation of engineers should be accomplished along specific competences, making possible a professional profile and enabling the graduates to get integrated into the job market. Hence, this change has provided the opportunity to create a more active and dynamic teaching-learning model, with more personalized methods and the integration of new technologies. In the midst of this situation, a case study has been undertaken to analyze the consequences of such change in the academic results of the BEng Industrial Design Engineering degree of the School of Design Engineering ETSID (Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain) along the first course of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) adapted program and those obtained by the corresponding pre-EHEA course at ETSID. This paper aims to become an instrument to monitor the development and effectiveness of the teaching-learning policies adopted, thus contributing to the continuous process of educational improvement at ETSID by comparing various performance and success rates. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TERMS (Transitioning Engineering Research to Middle Schools) is a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) project that targets the middle school teachers who teach the students most at risk for losing interest in science, engineering, and mathematics. As most students advance through middle school science classes, their attitudes toward science and math become more negative. The middle grades are a critical period for students, representing the period most beneficial to provide engaging academic opportunities. The TERMS project strived to develop curriculum and experiences for the middle grades by placing the teachers into a community of practice. The research component of the project was enhanced over three years; the teachers wrote research papers, developed research boards for science fairs, and gave research presentations. The program has improved teacher perceptions towards engineering research and teaching. This is evidenced by a survey that was adapted from one available to the RET network. The survey looks at the satisfaction with the RET experience, the extent that the faculty mentor met RET expectations, the success of the RET experience, the impact of the RET program on the RET personally, level of engagement, and learning experiences. Research results are provided from additional surveys that examine teacher perceptions towards research and science and mathematics teaching through the context of engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Engineering and computer science careers are not well known to the general public. Most students studying these majors also have limited knowledge and information about their chosen area of study. In working with students over many years, the authors have experienced many questions from these students. As part of the evaluations for Academic Success Meetings, the students have been encouraged to ask questions about areas that they need to know more about. The questions tend to repeat themselves and fall into general categories. Not all students have mentors to answer these questions. Starting with the most important, the answers to all of these questions will go on a website that has been developed especially for transfer students under a National Science Foundation Step Award # 0836050. An initial 136 questions were presented to over 100 students. The students were asked to choose the 20 most critical questions to them. From this data, in an earlier paper, the top five questions were determined for students over 21 and the top five for students 21 and under, as well as by academic level. In this paper the similarities and differences in these critical questions by gender and by race/ethnicity are considered. The males and females in this study had two questions in common for their top five: “Why should I consider getting a PhD degree in engineering?” and “How do I choose a job?” The three race/Ethnicity groups of White, Hispanic/Latino, and Other/Unknown had only one question in common: “Will there be a job for me when I graduate?” Each of the three two-pair combinations had one question in common. The differences in critical questions by gender and ethnicity will also be discussed. The information determined here will help educators and advisors encourage potential and actual students in engineering and computer science. With this information they can focus their message by honing in on the critical questions of their particular audience. These questions and their answers can also be used for intentional advising. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A.S. Fraenkel introduces a new a-Wythoff's game which is the generalization of Wythoff's game. Fraenkel determines all P-positions of a-Wythoff's game under normal play convention. In this paper, we introduce two new restricted versions of a-Wythoff's game, Odd-Even Wythoff's Game and Odd-Even a-Wythoff's Game. Both new games are investigated. All its P-positions under normal play convention are given, and the corresponding wining strategies are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Firstly, this paper points out that the traditional definition of class ratio deviation and its principle of comparison are not suitable for the comparison of two sequences with the opposite monotonicity, but suitable for the comparison of two sequences with the same monotonicity. Then, a new principle of comparison for two sequences with the opposite monotonicity is proposed. Finally, by means of the new principle of comparison, we get a discrimination method to reduce the class ratio deviation for the decreasing function. So it is important to perfect the discriminant method for the compression transformation of class ratio deviation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The hypercube is a popular interconnection network for multiprocessor systems. The balanced hypercube, denoted by BHn, is a variant of the hypercube network. The balanced hypercube reserves some properties of the hypercube and enhances some other properties of it as well. For a multiprocessor system, the reliability of an interconnection network is a major concern. It is well-known that connectivity is a important measure for the reliability of an interconnection network. In this paper, we study a refined reliability measure, called super connectivity, of the balanced hypercube. We show that the super connectivity of BHn is 4n − 4 for n ≥ 2. That is, at least 4n − 4 vertices need to be removed from BHn to get a disconnected graph which contains no isolated vertex. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Data mining techniques are being applied successfully in wide varieties of databases in order to extract useful information. This paper applies data mining techniques on a new tea insect pests database created on the basis of data available from different tea gardens of North Bengal districts of India. We describe different issues related to the development of a good data mining model in the present context. We propose a novel multiple imputation - reduced dimension - clustering approach. A bootstrap-based EMB algorithm performing multiple imputation for missing values; EM- clustering technique; Id3 and C4.5 for tree based classifications have been deployed in the study. The performance of the model is found satisfactory. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The success of mobile technology for learning tools depends not only on the technical design aspects but also on pedagogical issues. Students' involvement in designing the tools is one of the key factors for their engagement in technology supported learning. Students should be actively involved in developing innovative solutions which are likely to improve their skills as well as their performance. In this study work, the students participated in iterative design processes of a mobile tablet based peer-to-peer assessment system (P2PASS) for mathematics, and in real life deployment on a mathematics course. The paper reports on two major concepts: the user centred design in practice and the pedagogical implications of formative assessment in mathematics education at university level. The improvements on the usability aspects of the P2PASS system are discussed together with the potential role that such a system could play in collaborative learning of mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The attention over Green IT keeps rising. In this paper, an attempt to build a measure method for evaluating environment impact of IoT is made. First, the green degree of the smart object in IoT is defined and studied as a fuzzy problem. Then the measure of medium truth degree (MMTD) based on the medium mathematics (MM) is used to build the two dimensional quantification mapping of the smart object on its green features, including the power efficiency and the electromagnetic pollution index. Next, the distance ratio mean function is given as a measure method to the green degree of the smart object. Finally, an example is given to show how to measure the green degree of a smart object in a tiny IoT. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, a squarer based on Vedic mathematics is proposed. Vedic mathematics is one of the ancient Indian mathematics which contains sixteen sutras. These sutras can be used to solve problems in any branch of Mathematics in a faster way. The proposed squarer is based on sutra called Ekadhikena Purvena. It means that “one more than the previous”. This sutra is used for finding the square of decimal numbers ending with ‘5’. In this paper this sutra is generalized and used for squaring of binary numbers. The proposed squarer is compared with duplex squarer for 8, 16 and 32-bit cases in Cyclone III FPGA EP3C16F484C6. The proposed squarer saves area by almost 50% and reduces delay by 50% when compared with duplex squarer in 32-bit case. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Educational Virtual Environment for Mathematics (EViE-m) is a virtual reality platform which supports mathematics education. By answering multiple-choice questions of various levels of difficulty, users gain access to VR world elements such as buildings and technology trees in order to construct organized virtual cities. The platform rewards users' ability/dexterity by providing access to even more advanced world elements which enable them to build highly structured virtual worlds. This technique is best suited for repetition, drilling and honing skills. In this paper, we report on two custom made modules of the platform: (a) the Question Manager which eases the administration of a vast number of multiple-choice questions typically handled by the EViE-m platform and (b) the Tutoring Module which integrates the logic of user advancement in the game. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The survey method employs self reporting on the extent of the use of students' mother tongue (L1) in mathematics classrooms where English (L2) is used as the medium of instruction shows two advantages. Firstly, it is easy to conduct; secondly, it is more likely to achieve a generalization when the sample size is big. However, the major shortcoming of this method has, more often than not, a gap of accuracy when the result is reviewed against the real situation of language use in the classroom. The present paper proposes an alternative way of investigating the extent as well as the pattern of L1 and L2 used in mathematics classrooms. The quantitative analysis on the extent and the pattern of code switching in mathematics classrooms is done on utterances, the qualitative data of video transcripts. As each utterance carries the mark of language types, it also carries marks of various factors such as types of school, location of school, class levels, and types of class according to student performance levels. The nature of the use of L1 and L2 is further investigated according to these four factors. The research findings suggest that mathematics teachers may be more likely to utilize extra use of students' L1 to communicate mathematically within the primary classrooms while communicating with the lower level and with weak students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using mobile devices for promoting subject learning in school education. A total of 43 Chinese students from two Primary 4 classes in a primary school in Hong Kong participated in this study. One class was randomly assigned as the experimental class, while the other class as the control class. Students in the experimental class used mobile devices to learn about perimeter of polygons while those in the control class learned the same topic with paper-based materials. The results of pre-test and post-test show that students in the experimental class achieved a significant improvement in their learning performance. Furthermore, the responses from student interview indicate that students in the experimental class were generally satisfied with classroom learning with mobile devices because of two reasons: i) an increased level of student control, and ii) an enhanced communication between peers and between the teacher and students. These findings reveal the pedagogical potential of mobile devices to promote deep learning through classroom-based dialogic interaction in class time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a method for comparison of coalition influence in the framework of social welfare function which is a model of group decision. The proposed method compares a pair of coalitions from the point of view how different the opinion which the coalition has with respect to the collective decision is. Some examples how the proposed method work are provided in this paper. It is verified that the binary relation which the proposed method uses is weak order and negatively transitive. A proposition which shows the proposed method satisfies monotonicity which means that a bigger coalition has more power in the group decision. This paper also introduces properties of players and coalitions in the framework of social welfare function. Some relationships between coalition properties and comparison results calculated by the proposed method are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To improve education, teachers need to apply strategies based in research on how people learn, and then use technology and other means to leverage these strategies to meet the needs of an ever growing population. This paper briefly surveys proven approaches for active learning, and describes initial efforts to analyze activities to identify reusable patterns that could help researchers understand how activities work and how to improve them. The objective is to inspire teachers to learn more about active learning and explore ways to help people learn more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

New studies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have delved into investigating the factors why students do or do not appreciate Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. Many indicators point mainly to the effectiveness, or ineffectiveness, of teachers. The main purpose of this paper is to identify significant factors that affect a teacher's effectiveness. This is done through an analysis of the results of a twenty-four-question survey, developed by the authors, given to 200 Science, Technology, and Mathematics teachers, from Kindergarten to Grade 12, in public and private schools across the country. A literature review consisting of comparable studies in other countries served as a backdrop to the many trends discovered in the analysis of teachers' responses. Furthermore, the authors provide additional critical interpretations to address the unique nature of the findings in the UAE educational system. Overall, the findings point to the dire need to address teachers' dissatisfaction with the teaching profession in the UAE. Specifically, addressing monetary compensation, improving the curricula, lack of resources and providing professional guidance via development courses and seminars is necessary if teachers are to be more effective in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The education in applied sciences, engineering, and technologies is one of the Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2006/962/EC) and priority areas in the educational strategy in EU countries. It directly effects the industrial development. Recent surveys show that the occupational structure of EU employment of the engineering sector tends to shift towards knowledge- and skills-intensive jobs from 27.3%(2007) to 32.4%(2020) (CEDEFOP, Skills supply and demand in Europe. Medium-term forecast up to 2020 (2010)). Therefore, contemporary industry demands well-educated STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) graduates. Since students' motivation to learn depends upon the knowledge and skills of the teachers, teachers should have access to high quality and real-life-based resources to build their competence, to support student's improvement, to familiarize with up-to-date research, development and industrial needs in STEM. This paper presents the study results on secondary school needs in development of remote experimentation and ICT competences in several EU countries. The survey was executed in frame of the project “OLAREX: Open learning approach with remote experiments” supported by EU Lifelong Learning Programme. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we present student knowledge modeling algorithm in a probabilistic domain within an intelligent tutoring system. The student answers to questions requiring diagnosing skills are used to estimate the actual student model. Updating and verification of the model are conducted based on the matching between the student's and model answers. Three different approaches to updating are suggested, namely coarse, refined, and blended updating. In addition, different granularity levels are evaluated by changing the value of the updating step and the output of this parametric study is indicated. Results suggest that the refined model provides better approximation of the student model while utilizing blended model decreases the required trial numbers to model the student knowledge with limited reduction in accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Adaptive diagnosis in the locally twisted cube is studied in this paper. Let LTQn denote the $n$-dimensional locally twisted cube. We prove that for any integer $n \geq 3$, LTQn can be adaptively diagnosed using at most 4 parallel testing rounds, with at most $n$ faulty nodes, where each node participates in at most one test in each round. The proof and algorithm of adaptive diagnosis in LTQn have been proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The demands for increasing matriculation and retention in engineering are exceedingly high. To discover future innovations, the Nation needs many more engineers than it produces. This paper reviews the literature regarding some of the most significant barriers to student recruitment and retention in the physical sciences and engineering, especially with regard to underrepresented groups. Many students traditionally find it hard to be successful in engineering, not because they are not as successful in the key competencies (e.g. mathematics), but because they have not been provided with experiences that will provide the motivation required to complete the degree. The focus of this paper is the need to support students' utility value perceptions, Engineering is typically a rigorous and difficult curriculum for all students, not just those at risk. Therefore, educational tools and interventions are needed that aid in overcoming these challenges and enhance learning of material. We argue that an ideal case for supporting student learning and motivation would be to emphasize Photovoltaics (PV) in physical science and engineering curricula. Specifically, we argue that (a) students' perceived value of learning PV is high given the current climate for the need to develop renewable energy technologies, and (b) PV educators and educational researchers need to work together to optimize the motivational opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The urban subway emergencies of the world took place frequently which would cause great casualties and property loss, as well as unfavorable political influence on public security and stability, so far as to cause the social panic. The paper explains the concepts of public emergency and the mutations mechanism and features of urban subway emergency. It undertakes an evaluation by means of Analytic Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Mathematics which are effective to evaluate the whole process of emergency management. Then the paper presents a case study about the emergency especially its development tendency of one subway in China. At last the paper gives conclusions about the assessment of emergency capacity to major public incidents on urban subway, which is full of significances to other public incidents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we propose a new multi-strategy model for immersing students in STEM. Rooted in the current research and experiences, the new practices are being developed and implemented in a college-based hybrid STEM learning center that is geared to serve as a hub connecting high schools, higher education institutions, and industries bringing new and existing strategies together into one integral system with unique online features. The Hub model would serve as an educational research laboratory contributing to the knowledge base about STEM by investigating what strategies (or combination of what strategies) will best support student development for the STEM workforce. In addition, the model would illustrate the importance of interconnection between engineering education research and engineering education practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The connection and practice of software engineering knowledge based on discrete mathematics were studied in this paper. The discrete mathematics thinking and method were put together with the relevant curriculum theory and application to drive other relevant professional course study. The practice was designed to aim at strengthening some related knowledge of discrete mathematics and combined to link up professional curriculum theory and application. And the personalized discrete mathematics interactive teaching platform was established to improve active studying. As a bridging course, discrete mathematics integrates software engineering knowledge and cultivates students' independent innovation ability and promotes the professional construction. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Remote laboratories are traditionally being used to provide access and to augment and enhance existing traditional pedagogical models in an online environment. This paper proposes a generalized methodology to build a class of learning games for remote labs. The methodology relies on successive rounds of problem posing and problem solving. A case study in chemical engineering is used to illustrate the methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

When the tip of the second link of a two-link robotic manipulator is sliding on a dry rough surface, the motion could go through a range of inconsistency or indeterminacy known as the Painlevé paradox. In this research a new method for eliminating the Painlevé paradox is proposed. A paradox index is specified and for any specific distance between the fixed pivot and the contact surface, the index changes along a specific curve during the motion. Calculating and monitoring the index specifies how close is the robot from the paradox zone. Whenever the robot is closed enough to the paradox zone the distance between the fixed pivot and the contact surface instantaneously decreases. Hence, the robot goes away from the paradox and the index follows another curve during the subsequent motion. The same action will be repeated till the system reaches the critical height of the pivot height at which the system leaves the surface just before the paradox starts. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Guided by design-based research and the notion of seamless learning, we have designed a learning activity in mathematics where mobile and web technologies support transitions between outdoor and indoor learning contexts. The students' initiatives during the self-regulated outdoor part of the activity are scaffolded by the use of mobile technologies and activity prompts which provide means and demands for on-the-spot oral and visual recordings of the groups' experiences and strategies. We argue that the high quality of mathematical content in the recordings is due to several contributing factors: the choice of appropriate technological support, the informal settings, the availability of relevant physical references, and the immediate recording based on fresh experiences. Our data suggests that the rich nature of the recordings contributes to the effective transition and communication of the outdoor experiences to the classroom's learning context where these experiences are shared and discussed with peers. Finally, we discuss design issues related to the role of the teacher, as well as the structure of the entire activity and the implications for future design iterations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Basic Circuits and Systems CAS education is crucial in the first phase of any electrical engineering curriculum, but increasingly under threat. This situation is in many ways similar to that of mathematics education in engineering. Creative shortcuts for teaching mathematics have recently been advocated in the “streetfighting mathematics approach”. Similar innovative, alternative ways can make the basic CAS education more effective. This special session aims to provide a forum where colleagues across the globe come together to share best practices, such as jewels or pedagogical shortcuts, and where they propose modern circuits, signals, and systems curricula for various target student audiences and discuss other related issues. Here we survey the contributions and discuss a case study, namely, the Thévenin/Helmholtz and Norton/Mayer equivalents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper presents a female -friendly engineering education in digital signal processing (DSP) at Northern Illinois University (NIU), more generally, revising the negative value traditionally placed upon electrical engineering achievement for women. Important tasks are as follows: (1) Design the DSP curricula in female-friendly way. (2) Establish an interactive DSP learners' community by developing appropriate teaching strategies in the class. (3) Offer teaching supplements for the enrolled students. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The importance of engaging children in mathematical activities from kindergarten is stressed by most contemporary researchers; this is in line with research which suggests that mathematical knowledge begins from the early years continues being developed over the first five years of life. One of the most difficult concepts to teach, in Kindergarten, is that of the Angle. In this paper, an innovative approach which combines computers, music and experiential movement is proposed. A Scratch-based computer application is utilized for engaging children in a musical-kinetic learning activity, aiming at introducing them to the concept of the angle. The aim of the presented research is to examine if this combination facilitates the teaching of the angle concept and which issues are more difficult for children at the age of 4-5 to understand [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mathematics is one of the major subjects which now integrates multimedia technology to its instructional materials and has become a phenomenon all around the world. The difficulty of visualizing mathematical concepts has been one of the major factors for students who find mathematics challenging, especially in calculating volumes of solid under the topic of integration. The objectives of the paper are to investigate on the suitable technique to produce a 3-dimensional (3D) visualization to demonstrate volumes of solid, to develop a multimedia courseware prototype for it and to evaluate the user acceptance of the prototype. The focus is on the methods of calculating volumes of solid under the topic of integration, which is a topic in Calculus. A multimedia courseware using Macromedia Toolbook implementing 2D graphics has been previously developed to assist the foundation students in UTP to learn integration. To enhance the student's visualization of calculating volumes of solid, a 3D graphics multimedia courseware has been developed using the ADDIE model. The tools that are used to develop the prototype are Blender for 3D modeling and SWiSH Max 4 for layout and interactivity of courseware. Questionnaire has been distributed to get feedback from 12 students pertaining to 3 categories which are visualization, navigation and content. The key findings from the analysis showed that the use of video, images, graph, audio and colour in the prototype is suitable. The user experience test performed on the UTP engineering students who have taken Calculus course resulted in a positive response whereby 90% of them agreed that the use of 3D images has helped them to understand better on how to calculate the volume of solids compared to referring only to 2D graphs like what they have learned previously. 77% of the respondents also said that they would use the courseware to support their learning of Calculus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) are emerging because of the developments in wireless communication technology and miniaturization of the hardware. WSN consists of a large number of low-cost, low-power, multifunctional sensor nodes to monitor physical conditions, such as temperature, sound, vibration, pressure, motion, etc. As the energy available in the sensor nodes used in WSN is limited, the primary focus of WSN applications is to maximize the network life time by using the energy efficiently. Hence making a good use of energy is important in WSN application. There are techniques to utilize the energy in an efficient way. One such technique is to place the sink node in an optimal position. The widely used technique for finding optimal location for sink node is Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). In this paper, an efficient method for finding optimized position of sink node using PSO is proposed. The initial constraints in finding optimal Base-Station (BS) locations in two-tiered wireless sensor networks proposed by B. Paul et al. using PSO are relaxed by placing Application Nodes (AN) dynamically based on Euclidean distance and probability of selection. This system is tested by establishing communication between the nodes and sink through the application nodes using query-driven model of WSN. The energy spent in transmission, reception and processing of query is analyzed and the results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the academic records at the Universidad Latina of Costa Rica (San Pedro) Information Technology Faculty during the 2011 and it is an extension of our first research that was focused on the first period of the same year [9]. It has been proposed the courses were grouped by two characteristics: a) competence components, and b) knowledge area. They were divided into seven different groups to determine on each, if there is a gap between genders and if it is necessary to take specific initiatives to reduce the found gap. The previous analysis [9], show that women consistently have better performance, higher frequency approving courses and less average abandoning them. There is an exception in the sciences courses. With new data, for a complete academic year instead of a four-month period, there is no difference in sciences courses performance, but stills about the dropout rates in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The pervasiveness of computer devices in everyday situations poses a fundamental question about Computer Sciences as being part of those known as basic sciences. However, it would be more beneficial not to consider computation only as a technique, but instead as a way of reasoning and problem solving. Under this perspective, there are inherent relationships among the knowledge, skills and attitudes that emanate from this field and those ones commonly related to Math. This paper discusses the relationship between the so-named Computational Thinking and the foundations of Math Education, based on a literature review. Three groups of skills that can be jointly developed by both areas are identified and some challenges and implications for education in Computer Sciences are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper studies the system design of micro flapping wing air vehicle, and describes the mechanical design and controller design of micro flapping wing air vehicle. X-airfoil is selected to design the wing of air vehicle. The combination of cork and carbon fiber is used to design air vehicle body. The system for the aerodynamic testing of micro flapping wings air vehicle is designed to verify the thrust and lift obtained from the system applied for the micro flapping wings air vehicle. The indicators of flight are given by flight test. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we consider a class of discrete-time Cohen-Grossberg neural networks with impulses and time-varying delays. By establishing an impulsive delay difference inequality and using the properties of “ρ-cone”, some sufficient conditions for the global p-attracting and p-quasi-invariant sets of this neural networks are obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, design methods of general fuzzy systems as function approximators are given respectively by the following three different conditions to be approximated: 1. The formulas of the functions are known; 2. The formulas of the functions are unknown, but for any input of the functions, we can get the corresponding output; 3. We only know limit pairs of input-output data of the functions. Finally, an example is given to show how to design a general fuzzy system to approximate a given function by a required accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The paper brings up some problems of teaching programming in universities. Aspects of understanding the specificity of programming as an academic course, its links to a variety of related courses are presented. The discourse points to some difficulties that students have while learning programming and instructors have while teaching it, especially such problems as translating tasks from the language of the subject domain to the terms of software construction, refactoring the code structure, and understanding software changeability as its essential attribute. In conclusion, there is an attempt to apply the philosophical categories of the form and content to the software recognized as a product of human creative ability and as an art work. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We deal with the problem of frequency assignment in mobile and general radio networks, where the signal interferences are modeled using an interference graph G. Our approach uses graph theoretic and optimization techniques. The frequency assignment problem can be cast as a variant of the vertex coloring problem(called the T-colorings problem) on graphs. In this paper, we will show several previous results of multigraphs, and we also will present a new algorithm to compute the T-coloring span of multigraphs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mathematics is one of the most difficult courses to study for engineering students. In addition, effective communication, teamwork, and problem solving are important skills for graduate engineers in their professional work. This study proposes Creative Problem Solving as a framework to improve the way engineering students learn mathematics and support their critical problem solving, communication, and team working skills. The main goal of this paper is to illustrate the importance of using creative problem solving skills through blended learning environment as seen from an Engineering Mathematics students' perspective. First year undergraduate students participated in an experimental group where instruction was provided in a blended learning format using a creative problem solving approach. The lecturer then used face-to-face instruction on the same subject to a control group. Results indicate that from the perspective of the students in the experimental group, the ability to utilize creative problem solving skills is the most important skill set when learning Engineering Mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]