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As a lot of juvenile Muslims tend to be less engaged with their religion and the history of mosques in their community, this study was conducted to develop a series of digital content in the metaverse combined with participatory communication and learning with religious leader to enhance students' perception of community Mosque (Darun Naim, Thung Kru District, Thailand). The objectives of this research were to survey needs, to develop and assess the quality of the aforementioned series of digital content, to evaluate students' perception, and to measure students' satisfaction. Materials of this study included questionnaires and forms to survey needs, assess the quality of the digital content and media presentation, evaluate subjects perception, and measure their satisfaction. A total of 30 subjects who were students from Al-Bidayah Religious School, Thung Khru District, Bangkok and had been members of Young Muslim Association Ban Khru for at least 1 year were selected through purposive sampling. After questionnaire-based data collection, mean and standard deviation were used as a statistical tool for data analysis. The results of this study showed that the outcome of needs assessment was at a high level. The overall quality of the content and media presentation was at a good and very good level, respectively. The findings of the assessment of students' perception and satisfaction were at the highest level. In summary, the developed digital content in the metaverse combined with participatory communication and learning with religious leader was of high quality and can be implemented.

Design students must develop competence in a wide range of areas in order to be successful in their future practice. Increasingly, knowledge of design methods is used to frame both a designer's repertoire and their overall facility as a designer. However, there is little research on how students build cognitive schema in relation to design methods or how these schema relate to specific patterns of engagement as developing designers. In this paper, we report a multiple case study, capturing the experiences of four advanced undergraduate students enrolled in a User Experience (UX) design program at a large research-intensive institution. Through reflexive thematic analysis on our interview study outcomes, we describe the wide variety of metaphors that these students used to organize and frame their understanding of design methods, including both principles they used to consider methods as knowledge, and the ways in which they felt these organizing principles impacted their practice of design. We conclude with recommendations for further research on the uptake of methods-focused competence in design education and practice.

Given the lack of computational tools available for assessing second language (L2) production in Korean, this study introduces a novel automated tool called the Korean Syntactic Complexity Analyzer (KOSCA) for measuring syntactic complexity in L2 Korean production. As an open-source graphic user interface (GUI) developed in Python, KOSCA provides seven indices of syntactic complexity, including traditional and Korean-specific ones. Its validity was tested by investigating whether the syntactic complexity indices measured by it in L2 written and spoken production could explain the variability of L2 Korean learners' proficiency. The results of mixed-effects regression analyses showed that all seven indices significantly accounted for learner proficiency in Korean. Subsequent stepwise multiple regression analyses revealed that the syntactic complexity indices explained 56.0% of the total variance in proficiency for the written data and 54.4% for the spoken data. These findings underscore the validity of the syntactic complexity indices measured by KOSCA as reliable indicators of L2 Korean proficiency, which can serve as a valuable resource for researchers and educators in the field of L2 Korean learning and assessment.

Engineering drawing is valuable in capturing geometric features, conveying engineering ideas, and creating a blueprint of the intended product. Engineering students usually perform orthographic projections, imagining a 3D situation and sketching its 2D representation. That requires imagination and mental visualization, determined by the learner's spatial ability. This study proposes the infusion of an AR stereogram mobile application into an engineering drawing course to establish how it influences learning outcomes among students with different spatial abilities. The quantitative experimental study involved two mechanical engineering classes in northern Taiwan, N = 69 first-year vocational high schoolers. Statistical analysis revealed that the experimental group with high spatial ability recorded better results and excellent drawing skills. Bloom's taxonomy categorization reported that spatial ability influenced "understanding" and "applying" levels, with the strongest effect on "understanding." Although no significant interaction existed, learning outcomes were highly affected by spatial ability in "understanding" and "applying" levels and AR in the overall performance. The findings and discussions show AR holds great potential to enhance students' spatial ability for real-time visualization and enables better concept comprehension by improving their understanding of engineering topics. Future studies should consider these implications in creating effective and immersive learning environments for different courses in engineering education.

Ray tracing is a computer graphics technique used to produce realistic visuals by physically simulating the behavior of light. Although this technique can be described straightforwardly, fully comprehending it might be challenging. It is typically taught in the classroom using the 2-D formats, such as paper or a blackboard. We propose using immersive environments for incrementing the understanding of ray tracing. We focus on improving the knowledge of the technique in experienced users, particularly Master of Computer Science students minoring in a computer-graphics-related area. We argue that exploring the ray tracing process in an immersive visualization environment can further improve the understanding of ray tracing acquired using conventional means. With that objective, this study starts by presenting RayTracerVR, a virtual reality prototype tool for learning the mechanisms of ray tracing. This tool can be used to visually explore and interact with the different aspects of the technique. It allows users to observe the progression of the rays throughout the sequential stages of the ray tracing process and analyze its corresponding computer pseudocode. The study includes user evaluation where RayTracerVR is employed to assess improvements in ray tracing understanding. The prototype's usability is also assessed. The findings indicate that using the ray tracing immersive learning environment results in a supplemental increase in understanding in users who have previously learned ray tracing using conventional means.

This study examined the visual design processes and strategies used by design experts and non-design college students when composing an infographic. All participants created an infographic on a personal computer and were asked to think aloud as they performed the task. The goal was to identify differences in the strategies utilised to produce higher and lower-quality infographics scored across 17 design criteria. Results revealed six design processes: (1) create structure and grid, (2) establish visual hierarchy, (3) define visual rules, (4) replicate visual rules, (5) test and adjust, and (6) validate and revise. High-rated infographics were produced using a more systematic process, starting with working on the structure and grid and establishing a visual hierarchy, and moving on to define and replicate visual rules. Design strategies from the comparative analysis included: (1) laying out the elements over a grid and working on visual hierarchy before working on details, (2) placing related content near each other and less related content spaced apart, (3) using up to two font styles and opting for legible over decorative fonts, (4) testing various colours, fonts, and graphics while preserving the overall structure and hierarchy, and (5) stepping back to validate the overall design and making adjustments based on the optical weight. These processes and strategies were encapsulated into a five-stage Infographic Visual Design Model.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how infographics are used in the dynamics of designing or creating in the teaching and learning process. Utilising a bibliometric approach and content analysis, we examined a sample of 760 documents from the Web of Science and Scopus databases with no lower time limit until November 2023. The analyses aimed to identify trends, including main topics, authors, sources, most cited articles, institutional affiliations, and countries in the literature. This bibliometric approach allows for the observation of trends in the educational application of promoting visual literacy through students' design or creation of infographics in formal and informal learning settings. Initial publications emerged in 2007, gaining momentum from 2014 to the present. The most prolific fields were medical science, chemistry, and computer science. This investigation shows that educational institutions could employ infographics beyond present boundaries to prepare students--particularly Generation Alpha, digital natives--for a data-driven society. Institutions should expand their use of infographics to improve visual literacy and address the changing educational requirements of students in a dynamic learning environment. Overall, this paper provides insights into the readiness of educators and institutions to engage Generation Alpha, the digital natives, through visual literacy and infographics.

Recent advances and applications of artificial intelligence (AI) have increased the opportunities for students to interact with AI in their learning tasks. Although various fields of scholarly research have investigated human-AI collaboration, the underlying processes of how students collaborate with AI in a student-AI teaming scenario have been scarcely investigated. To develop effective AI applications in education, it is necessary to understand differences in the student-AI interaction (SAI) process depending on students' characteristics. The present study attempts to fill this gap by exploring the differences in the SAI process amongst students with varying drawing proficiencies and attitudes towards AI in performing a public advertisement drawing task. Based on the empirical evidence obtained from the think-aloud protocols of 20 Korean undergraduate students, the study first conducted a lag sequential analysis to identify statistically significant linear patterns of each group and then chronologically incorporated them into the SAI duration via coded activity alignment series to distinguish the overall SAI process of each group. The study revealed the distinctive differences in SAI processes of students with different attitudes towards AI and drawing skills. To better facilitate student-AI teams for learning, a range of implications of educational AI development and instructional design is discussed.

Many academic teachers present data as static graphics in their lectures and courses. However, data structures have become more complex in the last decades, especially in the biomedical disciplines, and interactive graphics can provide a better means to communicate the scientific contents to students. Besides, the technological qualifications of academic staff are diverse, and it has been little studied how these teachers can be trained to program and implement interactive graphics for their courses. It is also little known whether interactive graphics will be helpful for teaching and learning. We conducted a pilot online workshop to identify aspects that need to be addressed when teaching academic staff to program interactive graphics in form of Shiny-apps based on the programing language R. The n = 25 participants were academic staff from the fields of medicine or natural sciences. Pre- and post-workshop questionnaires were used to identify which aspects should be considered in future workshops, to query the usefulness of interactive graphics for teachers and students, and to identify the impact of the workshop on the teacher's opinion towards digital teaching devices and their preparedness to program own interactive graphics. Most participants showed strong interest to use interactive graphics in their courses after the workshop, and interactive graphics were overall rated as very helpful for teachers and students. However, only those with prior programming knowledge intended to implement own graphics. We conclude that an extension of the workshop will be necessary to provide additional training for participants with no background in R programming.

Students' engagement in multimodal remediation of learning material in the form of slideshow presentations dominates universities. Yet, diversification of learning artifacts through the creation of more diverse types of multimodal content is scarce. The current article therefore proposes an innovative project during which students summarize research articles (RAs) by remediating their content into two increasingly popular communication formats: infographics and graphical abstracts (GAs). Following step-by-step activities that enhance student agency, learners self-regulate, work in groups, and learn to design these types of visuals. We discuss both modes and practices and present them visually in the format of instructional infographics, providing insights compiled in our own reflective journals as course facilitators. Courses: Professional Communication, Academic Communication, Science Communication, Technical Writing, Social Science Research Methods, English for Research Purposes, English for Specific Purposes, English for Academic Purposes, Visual Literacy, and Multimodality courses. The activities of multimodal remediation of academic texts into infographics and GAs may be adapted for all levels of students, including those who plan to continue with research activities in the future. Objectives: The proposed activities will help students to: (1) extract essential information from the RAs; (2) become acquainted with expert expectations regarding infographics and GAs (i.e. author guidelines in scientific journals); (3) critically evaluate the construction criteria of visuals for scholarly publication; (4) communicate research content (scientific data) visually by learning to design two popular formats for communicating research; (5) reflect on how effective multimodal construction is compared to the ones created by peers or the examples provided; (6) familiarize themselves with the target academic discourse; (7) foster learner agency, self-regulation, and autonomy; and (8) develop effective team working and collaboration subskills (e.g. responsibility sharing, taking into account the perspectives of others, etc.).

Currently, augmented reality (AR) is one of the emerging technologies which is being widely used in the education sector. In engineering drawing, AR has been implemented to enhance learners' spatial ability but not their conceptual knowledge yet. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of AR on engineering drawing students' learning performance. In this study, we developed an AR-based application EDINAR to learn engineering drawing concepts for undergraduate engineering students. The study included 392 first-year students from an engineering institution. The control group (N = 196) studied engineering drawing using traditional methods, whereas the experimental group (N = 196) used an AR-based engineering drawing application (EDINAR) to learn engineering drawing. One-way ANOVA was used to analyse the performances of both groups. The findings revealed that students studying engineering drawing with the help of EDINAR outperformed those using traditional approaches. In addition, we received positive feedback about the AR application from the experimental group about their learning experience. Based on these results, it is recommended to incorporate AR in engineering education to improve the learning performance and students' learning experience.

This paper aims to analyse to what extent the engineering curricula contribute to the development of visual literacy among engineering students. Communicating and thinking visually is a basic skill for all engineers, being a fundamental part of their educational stage. For this purpose, Engineering Graphics subjects from 30 engineering schools from Spain have been selected to review their content. The sample consists of 80 subjects of Engineering Graphics, mechanical design and computer-aided design. The curricula were analyzed using a quantitative and qualitative method. A database has been developed where keywords that identify the objectives of the analysis have been tabulated. Learning technical visual language and visualization skills as a means of developing visual literacy in engineering has been taken as the basis of the analysis. The results show that the curricula of the subjects contemplate the development of graphic skills around communication and technical representation and, to a lesser extent, visualization. On the other hand, the teaching activities contemplated do not dive into the cognitive aspects of graphics. We can also observe the pre-eminence of computer graphics as the main basis for teaching activities and marginal use of freehand drawing, which is basic for the development of Visual Literacy.

Analogical thinking is one of the thinking processes that is associated with creativity. This paper explores how it is experienced in Graphic Design elaborations using Computer Graphic Technology (CGT). Data are collected through concurrent and retrospective probing from three undergraduates and analysed through phenomenological reduction to identify the constituents and elements of the creative analogy's general psychological structure. The findings show that the general structure of the creative analogical experience is a relationship between three constituents namely: (1) the experience of recalling knowledge or information; (2) the use of knowledge for ideation; and (3) the use of knowledge to conclude ideas. The findings also show that the underlying elements of these constituents are conceptual (declarative) and technical (procedural) knowledge and its combinations that are consistent with the theories of analogical thinking. This article concludes with recommendations for future research and insights on its implementation in Design Education.

During the junior high and high school years, there is a dramatic decrease in motivation for math studies, which has been found to play a major role in learning processes. Many attempts have been made to mitigate this decrease in motivation and to encourage mathematics studies in higher grades. One way that researchers have proposed to stimulate students' curiosity and their perceived ability in math is to integrate technology into teaching. Such technology includes technological tools, digital educational activities, learning support software. Using tablet in class has significant potential to improve learning but the issue of how to effectively integrate digital technology into teaching and learning practices becomes critical. According to that knowledge we examined the impact of the use of a digital writing board (similar to tablet) by the lecturer during frontal lectures in mathematics on students' learning motivation in an engineering academic preparatory program, following motivational constructs: self-efficacy, implicit theory of ability, value beliefs, and learning climate. The results showed that the technological tool positively affected two important motivational constructs that influence general motivation for mathematics studies.

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to examine various dimensions of aesthetic visual design and their role in predicting usability in e-learning in higher education institutions of northern India. Using quantitative means of data collection, this research identified, ways and means to make learning content effectively usable, that is, attractive, interesting, motivating, and engaging for the learners. Method: A survey questionnaire was developed through focused group discussions with field experts. Data were collected through online as well as offline modes. A Google form was created and its weblink was shared with the students pursuing degree courses in various state universities in northern India. Several visits and revisits were also undertaken to various universities to approach the respondents. Results: Results confirmed consistency, typography, graphics, grid, and layout as factors responsible for predicting usability of e-learning. Surprisingly, color and compositional guidelines emerged insignificant. Implications: The study has implications for teaching and learning activities that promote effective learning. The findings are beneficial for course-design faculty who develop modules by considering visual design elements that can facilitate interaction with and understanding of content by students learning in an online modality.

The "new digital art? genre has emerged to describe various works of art that have evolved with the development of digital technologies. In its broadest sense, digital art encompasses everything from high-end machine learning applications to the use of interactive elements in traditional media. There is also an increase in the interaction between information technologies and art. Science, art and technology has been increasing and becoming widespread since the 60s, when scientists, artists and inventors began collaborating and using electronic devices to create art. The experience that results from consuming art and culture is multifaceted in nature. It can be individual or collective, physical or virtual, active or passive, public or private, on-site or in private places, open-air or indoor. With the spread of digital art, there is a remarkable increase in the commodification of art. This article, in this context, analyzed and discussed digital art, its positive and negative aspects, and the commodification of this art type on the basis of literature.

Image-text conversion for web-based drawing involves mental activities of reification which sometimes leads students fluent in graphical hand skills to find it difficult to learn program code drawing. 35 people completed experiments on Topics 1 and 2 and 30 people completed experiments on Topics 1 to 3 on webpage design. A pretest and posttest determined their learning style (visual or verbal), basic programming ability, and cognitive abilities (including logical reasoning, figural flexibility, and spatial perception--orientation and measurement). Statistical analyses and semi-structured interviews examined student performance. Students with different learning styles and different cognitive abilities displayed significant differences in the three topics. K-means clustering demonstrated the originality, aesthetic sophistication, and level of interaction to be critical yardsticks in measuring programming learning achievement. This research demonstrates factors that influence the learning of web-based drawing and offers new opportunities for understanding how front-end engineer novices can apply computational thinking skills to implement webpage design. Specifically, mental models may be integrated by graphical, heuristic, abstract, and sequential thinking in turn to solve problems in web-based drawing.

For students to gain the most out of education, they need to form long-term memories from experiences gained through active learning. The greatest distinction between active learning and traditional approaches involves the types of tasks and problems the students are challenged to solve. Active learning activities should be structured with student pairs to groups no larger than four participants, with one person in each group as the scribe or recorder and all others prepared to share ideas with their group members. There are variations of active learning formats such as Think-Pair-Share, Concept Test, and Think-Aloud Pair Problem Solving (TAPPS). In addition, there are several different approaches to get students to learn. Cooperative learning, collaborative learning, peer learning, and problem-based learning are a few of the formats educators could utilize in an engineering graphics course.

Computer simulation and animation (CSA) is educational technology in which computer programs are employed to simulate and animate real-world physical phenomena and processes. CSA has attracted growing attention and received an increasing number of applications in the international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education community in recent years. The present study focuses on developing and assessing two CSA learning modules for improving student learning and problem-solving related to impulse and momentum in particle dynamics. Both CSA learning modules integrate mathematical problem-solving procedures into computer simulation and animation. They have interactive computer graphical user interfaces, which enable students to change input variables and visualize how output variables change accordingly. A quasi-experimental, quantitative research study was performed, involving 285 undergraduate engineering students divided into a comparison group that did not use CSA and an intervention group that used CSA. The results of statistical non-parametric analysis on the data collected from pre- and post-tests on the two groups show that, on average, the intervention group achieved more learning gains than the comparison group by 44% and 40% from two CSA learning modules, respectively. The difference in learning gains between the two groups of student participants was statistically significant.

The way medical students learn anatomy is constantly evolving. Nowadays, technologies such as tablets support established learning methods like drawing. In this study, the effect of drawing on a tablet on medical students' anatomy learning was investigated compared to drawing or summarizing on paper. The quality of drawings or summaries was assessed as a measure of the quality of strategy implementation. Learning outcome was measured with an anatomy test, both immediately afterward and after 4-6 weeks to assess its sustainability. There were no significant group differences in learning outcome at both measurement points. For all groups, there was a significant medium strength correlation between the quality of the drawings or summaries and the learning outcome (p < 0.05). Further analysis revealed that the quality of strategy implementation moderated outcomes in the delayed test: When poorly implemented, drawing on a tablet (M = 48.81) was associated with lower learning outcome than drawing on paper (M = 58.95); The latter (M = 58.89) was related to higher learning outcome than writing summaries (M = 45.59). In case of high-quality strategy implementation, drawing on a tablet (M = 60.98) outperformed drawing on paper (M = 52.67), which in turn was outperformed by writing summaries (M = 62.62). To conclude, drawing on a tablet serves as a viable alternative to paper-based methods for learning anatomy if students can make adequate use of this strategy. Future research needs to identify how to support student drawing, for instance, by offering scaffolds with adaptive feedback to enhance learning.

A person cultivates their creative skills influenced by various types of activities. The purpose of the work is to study the peculiarities of the development of students' creative thinking skills, which are interrelated with the development of appropriate stages of team teaching, as well as to determine the impact of creative thinking on the indicators of academic performance and motivation to learn. The authors used the methods of sociological survey, which allowed them to determine that the largest number of students had mastered the skills of discipline (27%) and emotionality (21%) to a greater extent at the initial stage of the study. The results showed that 11% of the students in creative subjects (painting, digital art) and 7% of students in general disciplines (history, sociology, pedagogy, mathematics, physics, Chinese, cultural studies) had their academic performance at a high level before the start of online learning. The process of online teaching to paint was based on teamwork using the technologies of online education through educational online platform in the context of digital art. The results of the survey showed that the students had developed their creative skills significantly after training. The development of creative manner (29%) and analytical thinking (28%) were most popular. The authors determined that 88% of the students had received high grades in creative disciplines and 83% of the students in general academic disciplines after training. Most students were characterized by a high level of knowledge. The results are valuable for researchers who study the relationship between the development of creative skills and knowledge in general academic subjects, as well as strive to develop new curricula.

Design and computer graphics curricula for tertiary education include 3-D modeling skills. Students must learn to represent (complex) 3-D objects by means of parametric surfaces or polygonal meshes. Three-dimensional modeling may be a complex task, and students must be able to accrue a certain deal of experience in the field before passing the exam. The main difficulties the students must face mainly concern the comprehension of 3-D shapes and the choice of the most appropriate modeling techniques. This article proposes a framework to support bachelor's degree students in modeling 3-D objects by means of parametric surfaces. The proposed framework provides two augmented reality (AR) apps for smartphones and a web portal. The mobile AR apps allow students to deeply visualize 3-D object shapes, thus performing a set of guided exercises to practice basic modeling techniques. On the other hand, the web portal allows students to share their models with teachers and classmates to obtain feedback and comments. The preliminary results show the effectiveness of the proposed solution, as all volunteers involved in the experimental phase achieved better results after using the tools. Moreover, the students' opinions about the proposed framework are positive.

Game-Based Learning (GBL) is increasingly widespread as a learning technique in the engineering studies. However, this innovative methodology may be difficult to incorporate in some subjects due to their complex contents. This paper aims at combining traditional learning methodologies with game mechanics by using an ad-hoc gaming web environment and mobile devices to analyse the academic performance and motivation in engineering studies. A comparative study was carried out with 96 first-year engineering students. In this experience, the students were randomly divided into two groups: Control Group (CG) and Experimental Group (EG). The first group made use of the traditional learning methodology used, whilst the second group combined the traditional methodology with GBL and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The obtained results show that EG students significantly improve their academic performance and motivation, expressing a succinctly greater interest in the studied subject. Therefore, the integration of GBL in the teaching methodology could have a very positive impact as well as it could greatly ease the teaching-learning process in engineering studies.

Realistic visualizations are abundantly used in digital education. However, the use of realism is still thought to risk a cognitive overload due to excessive details. Moreover, it is still not precisely known whether there is an optimal level of realism that benefits learners the most. In two experimental studies, different versions of anatomical visualizations were compared regarding their effects on retention performance and the subjective cognitive load experienced during learning. In Experiment 1 (n = 73), four visualizations with minor variations in the geometry and shading of the model featured in the visualizations were used. Although neither the level of detail in the geometry nor the realism of the shading resulted in significant differences, a detailed model with simplified shading elicited the highest retention scores descriptively. In Experiment 2 (n = 156), a schematic visualization was compared with an "idealized" model featuring only simplified shading and a highly realistic rendering. There most realistic version elicited the highest retention scores, but also the highest cognitive load ratings. Taken together, the results suggest that the optimal level of realism might lie on the more realistic end of the spectrum for learning tasks focused on the memorization of shapes that are assessed using image-based tests.

Contribution: Determine and analyze the gap between software practitioners' education outlined in the 2014 IEEE/ACM software engineering education knowledge (SEEK) and industrial needs pointed by Wikipedia articles referenced in Stack Overflow (SO) posts. Background: Previous work has uncovered deficiencies in the coverage of computer fundamentals, people skills, software processes, and human-computer interaction, suggesting rebalancing. Research Questions: 1) To what extent are developers' needs, in terms of Wikipedia articles referenced in SO posts, covered by the SEEK knowledge units? 2) How does the popularity of Wikipedia articles relate to their SEEK coverage? 3) What areas of computing knowledge can be better covered by the SEEK knowledge units? 4) Why are Wikipedia articles covered by the SEEK knowledge units cited on SO? Methodology: Wikipedia articles were systematically collected from SO posts. The most cited were manually mapped to the SEEK knowledge units, assessed according to their degree of coverage. Articles insufficiently covered by the SEEK were classified by hand using the 2012 ACM computing classification system (CCS). A sample of posts referencing sufficiently covered articles was manually analyzed. A survey was conducted on software practitioners to validate the study findings. Findings: SEEK appears to cover sufficiently computer science fundamentals, software design, and mathematical concepts, but less so areas, such as the World Wide Web, software engineering (SE) components, and computer graphics. Developers seek advice, best practices and explanations about software topics, and code review assistance. Future SEEK models and the computing education could dive deeper in information systems, design, testing, security, and soft skills.

In this study, the contribution of the 3D computer modeling to the twenty-first century's common competencies was evaluated from the perspective of secondary school students. The one-group post-test only design was used in the study. The instruments of the data collection process were an achievement test and a questionnaire developed by the researchers. The t-test and single sample chi-square test for related samples were performed to analyze the gathered data. The results of the study presented that secondary school students thought that 3D computer modeling education contributes to the lectures as mathematics, geometry, technological information, and design. Moreover, it supports the development of design, communication, collaboration, creativity, and problem-solving skills positively.

Computed-generated imagery (CGI) generates diverse views and perceptions of the past. These new experiences impact, directly or indirectly, the teaching and learning of history. This article presents didactic iconographic works on the Spanish Civil War created by the DIDPATRI (Didactics of Heritage and New Technologies) research group at the University of Barcelona. The didactic approach to this conflict reveals various problems that make it an interesting testing ground for new iconographies that contribute to an understanding of it. The proposal looks at the generation of "virtual" iconography to facilitate the teaching of content in formal and non-formal spaces. It is argued that CGI opens up possibilities to researchers, teachers, students, and technicians for the generation of comprehensive communication elements of history. The attractiveness of this new "virtual" iconography of the past lies in the possibility to create integrated ensembles where the facts, concepts, situations, and representations of materiality that the creators want to represent can appear. The resulting iconographic product can be applied for use in various environments, such as teaching, heritage, tourism, and cultural industries, and via different media, such as panels, apps, web, audio-visuals, museography, games, books, and notebooks.

Formal learning environments have struggled to introduce STEM content and STEM careers to students from underrepresented populations. This problem is exacerbated when dealing with students who live in rural areas where access to quality materials and instruction is limited. The eMentorship project is an innovative approach to mentoring that utilizes the latest in communication technology to help support a formal mentoring program. This study investigates the impact of a virtual mentorship program on underrepresented students living in rural North Carolina. The project was an eight-week mentoring program that matched underrepresented student teams with graduate student mentors from a local university. In addition to the mentoring experience student participants were also taught three-dimensional (3-D) modeling skills using a "flipped" classroom approach to instruction. The paper presents the curriculum developed to guide the program, student examples of 3-D models, self-efficacy scores and qualitative interviews conducted with the student participants. Results of the study provide evidence that students found great value in the mentoring experience and were able to learn 3-D modeling skills in a virtual learning environment.

With the increase in online course use (Allen & Seaman, 2017), there is an increasing need to determine the most effective (i.e., the most conducive for learning) way to present lectures online (e.g., video lectures). Lecture graphics that are interesting but extraneous to the content (e.g., a celebrity), have been shown to impair comprehension of the material, likely resulting from an increase in cognitive load. In this study, the use of graphics on the slides of an online psychology lecture was manipulated to determine the extent to which images can improve (or impair) comprehension as well as the effect it may have on intentional and unintentional mind-wandering. Across our two experiments, we demonstrate no differences across conditions (i.e., unnecessary graphics, relevant graphics, no graphics) in overall comprehension and limited differences in mind wandering behavior.

In many science and engineering undergraduate programmes, physics courses are fundamental and can be seen as a potential place where students can develop complementary abilities such as the computational thinking process. The present work proposes and describes the learning science and engineering with electronic spreadsheets cycle (LSEESC) methodology to improve the learning of concepts in physics, science, and engineering, with the use of electronic spreadsheets as a digital and supported learning tool, promoting the understanding, critical thinking, and reasoning of physics in students based on activities such as the programming of all dynamical systems, describing mathematical evolution, generating and analysing graphics, and explaining physical phenomena with a high comprehension and transfer of knowledge to identify where the concept can be applied in their professional context using real-life examples or simulations. The proposed methodology can be implemented in different learning scenarios; that is, if the class uses computational devices or if the teacher exposes a specific topic in the classroom, physics and mathematics can be exposed to feedback from students in a comprehensible manner at any time during the instruction, after which a new sequence (cycle) based on previous results can be ejected and adapted. To describe the LSEESC methodology, we use the rigid body concept, which is one of the most general concepts in science and engineering and, integrates the majority of the fundamentals in mechanics, such as kinematics, forces, dynamics, and circular movement. This can be described as the concept of viewing all related equations and plotting the results with the relationships between all variables. The methodology uses simulations or real-life examples to reinforce the concept viewed, allowing students to see, in an integrated manner, how the same variables and concepts can be seen and interact in a real scenario for their professional context.

Recent experiments have demonstrated the self-assembly and long-range ordering of concentrated aqueous solutions of DNA and RNA mononucleotides. These are found to form Watson–Crick pairs that stack into columns that become spatially organized into a columnar liquid-crystalline phase. In this work, we numerically investigate this phase behavior by adopting an extremely coarse-grained model in which nucleotides are represented as semi-disk-like polyhedra decorated with attractive (patchy) sites that mimic the stacking and pairing interactions. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations of these patchy polyhedra by adapting algorithms borrowed from computer graphics. This model reproduces the features of the experimental phase behavior, which essentially depends on the combination of pairing and stacking interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior research has indicated that consumers' decisions are significantly influenced by online reviews. However, existing research has focused mainly on attributes (e.g., average ratings) that are not fully controlled by firms; only limited research has investigated how controllable attributes (e.g., review display formats) affect consumers. Drawing on visual perception research, the authors examine the effectiveness of two prominent graphical display formats used by major e-commerce platforms: one that displays rating distributions in a proportional format (e.g., Amazon) and one that does so in a simple format (e.g., Google). The results indicate that due to the changes in graphs' reference points caused by the shrunken x-axis in simple bar graphs, consumers respond more positively to an item when its rating distribution is displayed in a graphically simple (vs. proportional) format. This effect is moderated by the distribution's peak value (i.e., the share of the most frequent rating) and imbalance score (i.e., the difference between the share of positive and negative ratings). Furthermore, even an item's future ratings are influenced by the graphical format in which its prior ratings are displayed. The contributions to the marketing literature are discussed, and insights that can aid managers in making more informed decisions are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital heritage portal interfaces are generally similar to digital library and search engine interfaces in displaying search results as a list of brief metadata records. The knowledge organization and search result display of these systems are item-centric, with little support for identifying relationships between items. This paper proposes a knowledge graph system and visualization interface as a promising solution for digital heritage systems to support users in browsing related items, understanding the relationships between items, and synthesizing a narrative on an issue. The paper discusses design issues for the knowledge graph, graph database, and graph visualization, and offers recommendations based on the authors' experience in developing three knowledge graph systems for archive and digital humanities resources: the Zubir Said personal archive collection at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore; Singapore Pioneers social network; and Polyglot Medicine knowledge graph of Asian traditional and herbal medicine. Lessons learned from a small user study are incorporated in the discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global environment privacy and security issues were critical to handle the huge number of participants. Many security-based research works have been undertaken in the cloud, including multi-factor authentication using Elliptic Curve Computation Diffie-Hellman Problem, Multi-model Biometric, Signatures, Graphical One-time Passwords and more. In this paper, we propose a multi-level multi-factor authentication procedure that is comprised of three significant entities: Users, Trusted Third Parties and Cloud. This authentication procedure is segregated into three phases: In the first phase, the HMAC-SHA 256 algorithm, watermarking algorithm and logical OR operation are applied which includes user ID, password, and fingerprint. Then in the second phase, three-level authentications are involved to permit users to view, upload and download files from the cloud. On validating each constraint, the user is permitted to participate in the cloud within the limit. Finally, the third phase is for user convenience to modify the prior password with a new one for security purposes. Overall, our main goal is to validate the user's legitimacy for accessing the cloud through multi-factors: ID, password, fingerprint and graphical one-time password. Here, our work is implemented in a Java environment; our technique improves performance indicators such as successful login rates (94.4%), mean login time (10 ms), authentication efficiency, and overall user experience. In conclusion, our suggested MFA-MLS system provides a strong answer to the difficulty of safe authentication in cloud environments, prioritizing user ease and experience while also improving security measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this work is to explore various approximation properties of Stancu variant generalized (λ , μ) -Bernstein operators. Various moment estimates are analyzed, and several aspects of local direct approximation theorems are investigated. Additionally, further approximation features of newly defined operators are delved into, such as the Voronovskaya-type asymptotic theorem and pointwise estimates. By comparing the proposed operator graphically and numerically with some linear positive operators known in the literature, it is evident that much better approximation results are achieved in terms of convergence behavior, calculation efficiency, and consistency. Finally, the newly defined operators are used to obtain a numerical solution for a special case of the fractional Volterra integral equation of the second kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science communication predominantly engages individuals who already possess a pre-existing interest in science, thereby limiting its reach to a broader and more diverse audience. Situated approaches that intertwine content with spatial design may overcome interest barriers as it allows for spontaneous encounters with science. This paper describes the design of a multi-modal physicalisation coined Star Listener as the result of a collaboration between scientific experts (in astrophysics), design researchers and media professionals. Star Listener consists of different sensory engagement modalities, including textual information panels, speakers that distribute sonified data of stars, two public video displays with an animated explainer and interactive touchscreens with a mini-game. Star Listener was placed in an entryway of a public library for a period of 2 months. We evaluated this set-up by observing and interviewing passersby, both in an in-the-wild study and as a controlled in-the-wild study. We present design recommendations for the design of situated data representations and narrative physicalisations to support engagement of varied audiences with science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main computationally expensive task of realistic computer graphics is the calculation of global illumination. Currently, most of the lighting simulation methods are based on various types of Monte Carlo ray tracing. One of them, the Langevin Monte Carlo ray tracing, generates samples using the time series of a system of the Langevin dynamics. The method seems to be very promising for calculating the global illumination. However, it remains poorly studied, while its analysis could significantly speed up the calculations without losing the quality of the result. In our work, we analyzed the most computationally expensive operations of this method and also conducted the computational experiments demonstrating the contribution of a particular operation to the convergence speed. One of our main conclusions is that the computationally expensive drift term can be dropped because it does not improve convergence. Another important conclution is that the preconditioning matrix makes the greatest contribution to the improvement of convergence. At the same time, calculation of this matrix is not so expensive, because it does not require calculating the gradient of the potential. The results of our study allow to significantly speed up the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article from the Wagner Journal discusses the Bayreuth experience, highlighting the challenges of attending the festival but also the unique opportunities it offers to experience Wagner's music alongside dedicated enthusiasts. The focus is on the exceptional quality of the musical performances, particularly praising the orchestra's depth of sound and virtuosity. The article also provides insights into specific productions and casts, emphasizing the talent and impact of performers like Catherine Foster as Brünnhilde. Overall, the article presents a balanced view of the Bayreuth Festival, acknowledging both its frustrations and rewards for opera lovers. [Extracted from the article]

Photogrammetry is a technique for studying and defining objects' shape, dimension, and position in a three-dimensional space using measurements obtained from two-dimensional photographs. It has gained popularity following the development of computer graphics technologies and has been applied to various branches of medicine. In this study, the authors present a method for low-cost photorealistic documentation of corpses during autopsy using single-camera photogrammetry with a mobile phone. Besides representing the body by demonstrating the injured and non-injured body parts as control, evidencing the body parts on a 3D reconstruction allows easy explanation to nonmedical experts such as lawyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Authenticated encryption with associated data (AEAD) has become prominent over time because it offers authenticity and confidentiality simultaneously. In 2018, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) initiated a competition to standardize lightweight AEAD and hash functions, with Ascon as the final winner among the 10 finalists. Numerous prior works evaluated their performance on FPGA and ASIC, but not on a parallel architecture like GPU, which is a common accelerator already found in many existing cloud servers. In this work, the first GPU implementation of the NIST AEAD finalists is proposed. Several GPU implementation techniques applicable to all AEAD schemes are presented, along with novel techniques for some specific schemes to enhance throughput performance. Experimental results show that all NIST AEAD finalists can achieve high throughput (up to 111.53M AEAD per second), approximately 142.19% and 72.65% improvement compared to unoptimized GPU version, and the investigated FPGA results respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: In modelling two‐phase flows, accurate representation of interfaces is crucial. A class of methods for interface reconstruction are based on isosurface extraction, which involves a non‐iterative, interpolation based approach. These approaches have been shown to be faster by an order of magnitude than the conventional PLIC schemes. In this work, we present a new isosurface extraction based interface reconstruction scheme based on the Marching Cubes algorithm (MC), which is commonly used in computer graphics for visualizing isosurfaces. The MC algorithm apriori lists and categorizes all possible interface configurations in a single grid cell into a Look Up Table (LUT), which makes this approach fast and robust. We also show that for certain interface configurations, the inverse problem of obtaining the isovalue from the cell volume fraction is not surjective, and a special treatment is required while handling these cases. We then demonstrate the capabilities of the method through benchmark cases for 2D and 3D static/dynamic interface reconstruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stylization of 3D shapes has been a prominent topic in computer graphics. Geometric stylization, as a category within 3D shape stylization, has garnered widespread attention due to its distinctive geometric aesthetics. This paper introduces a novel and simplified method for achieving regular octahedral stylization, capable of transforming the input shape into the regular octahedral style while preserving the content of the original shape. The proposed method achieves regular octahedral stylization by using face normals. Its implementation is straightforward because it incurs a cost only in terms of solving several linear systems. To demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method, extensive tests were conducted on models with varying levels of complexity and topological structures. The results highlight the exceptional capability of the proposed method to generate geometric shapes with an aesthetically pleasing regular octahedral style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In computer vision, human action recognition is a hot topic, popularized by the development of deep learning. Deep learning models typically accept video input without prior processing and train them to achieve recognition. However, conducting preliminary motion analysis can be beneficial in directing the model training to prioritize the motion of individuals with less priority for the environment in which the action occurs. This paper puts forth a novel methodology for human action recognition based on motion information that employs transfer-learning techniques. The proposed method comprises four stages: (1) human detection and tracking, (2) motion estimation, (3) feature extraction, and (4) action recognition using a two-stream model. In order to develop this work, a customized dataset was utilized, comprising videos of diverse actions (e.g., walking, running, cycling, drinking, and falling) extracted from multiple public sources and websites, including Pexels and MixKit. This realistic and diverse dataset allowed for a comprehensive evaluation of the proposed method, demonstrating its effectiveness in different scenarios and conditions. Furthermore, the performance of seven pre-trained models for feature extraction was evaluated. The models analyzed were Inception-v3, MobileNet-v2, MobileNet-v3-L, VGG-16, VGG-19, Xception, and ConvNeXt-L. The results demonstrated that the ConvNeXt-L model yielded the most optimal outcomes. Furthermore, using pre-trained models for feature extraction facilitated the training process on a personal computer with a single graphics processing unit, achieving an accuracy of 94.9%. The experimental findings and outcomes suggest that integrating motion information enhances action recognition performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors propose Point'n Move, a method that achieves interactive scene object manipulation with exposed region inpainting. Interactivity here further comes from intuitive object selection and real‐time editing. To achieve this, Gaussian Splatting Radiance Field is adopted as the scene representation and its explicit nature and speed advantage are fully leveraged. Its explicit representation formulation allows to devise a 2D prompt points to 3D masks dual‐stage self‐prompting segmentation algorithm, perform mask refinement and merging, minimize changes, and provide good initialization for scene inpainting and perform editing in real‐time without per‐editing training; all lead to superior quality and performance. The method was tested by editing both forward‐facing and 360 scenes. The method is also compared against existing methods, showing superior quality despite being more capable and having a speed advantage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconstructing geometric shapes from sparse multiview has always been a challenging task. With the development of neural implicit surfaces, geometry‐based volume rendering surface reconstruction methods have been proven to be able to reconstruct high‐quality surfaces. However, existing geometry‐based reconstruction methods completely associate volume density with signed distance function or unsigned distance function, resulting in the same volume density peak that can only be reconstructed near the object surface. When there are transparent surfaces in the scene, existing methods prioritize the reconstruction of opaque surfaces, neglecting the reconstruction of transparent surfaces, which is disadvantageous when reconstructing real scenes. To solve this problem, we introduce local probability standard variance, which calculates volume density together with signed distance function. In this way, it can reconstruct the volume density that matches the transparency characteristics of the object surface. The method can reconstruct the surface of transparent objects, and experiments on two transparent surface datasets show that the method performs better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animating gaze behavior is crucial for creating believable virtual characters, providing insights into their perception and interaction with the environment. In this paper, we present an efficient yet natural‐looking gaze animation model applicable to real‐time walking characters exploring natural environments. We address the challenge of dynamic gaze adaptation by combining findings from neuroscience with a data‐driven saliency model. Specifically, our model determines gaze focus by considering the character's locomotion, environment stimuli, and terrain conditions. Our model is compatible with both automatic navigation through pre‐defined character trajectories and user‐guided interactive locomotion, and can be configured according to the desired degree of visual exploration of the environment. Our perceptual evaluation shows that our solution significantly improves the state‐of‐the‐art saliency‐based gaze animation with respect to the character's apparent awareness of the environment, the naturalness of the motion, and the elements to which it pays attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]