bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Lumbar Spinal Stenosis Induced by Rare Chronic Tophaceous Gout in a 29-year-old Man
Authors: Lu Feizhou , Jiang Jianyuan , Zhang Fan , Xia Xinlei , Wang Lixun , Ma Xiaosheng
Published: October 2012

Spinal gout is rare in patients younger than 45 years, occurring most commonly between ages 45 and 80 years. This article describes a 29-year-old man with a history of gout initially observed more than 20 years previously who presented with lower back pain and left lower limb weakness. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed severely damaged facet joints and laminae surrounding L4-S1, and materials with a granular, yellow, cheese-like appearance were observed under direct vision. Postoperative histological examination confirmed spinal gout. Complete posterior decompression was performed concurrently with interbody fusion at L4-L5 and L5-S1. Seventeen-month follow-up revealed good recovery.

The mechanism by which urate crystals form preferentially in the spine as opposed to more common soft tissue sites is not well understood. Most reported spinal gout cases were located at L4-S1, which were believed to be the segments with high stresses. These cases occurred in older patients with degenerative spinal diseases and had trauma as indicators. The current authors presume that gout is more likely to exist in the mobile regions with high pressure, such as L4-S1, even in individuals with an initially healthy spine, especially with a long period of abnormal renal dysfunction. Although it is often overlooked in young patients, this condition may be more common than the literature suggests due to the high potential for misdiagnosis in relatively young patients.
Accuracy of Cup Height and Medialization in THA for Dysplastic Hip Osteoarthritis Using an Imageless Navigation System
Authors: Inori Fumiaki , Ohashi Hirotsugu , Yo Hirotake , Okajima Yoshiaki , Matsui Yoshio , Shintani Kousuke
Published: October 2012

In total hip arthroplasty (THA) for dysplastic hip osteoarthritis, bony deformity makes it difficult to identify the correct cup height and medialization. The authors developed a new technique for registration and navigation of cup position for dysplastic hips using an imageless navigation system. Eighty dysplastic hips (Crowe type I, n=58; type II, n=18; type III, n=4) underwent THA. Thirty-four hips were operated on while in the supine position and 46 hips were operated on while in the lateral position. Before capsulectomy, the anterior pelvic plane and the position of the femur were registered. After exposure of the acetabulum, the teardrop, posterior rim, and medial wall of the acetabulum were registered. Then the cup height, cup medialization, cup inclination, anteversion, and leg lengthening were navigated. The difference between the navigated and radiographic cup heights was 4.5±4.0 mm, the difference in cup medialization was 3.0±2.5 mm, the difference in cup inclination was 4.3°±3.1°, the difference in cup anteversion was 5.5°±3.8°, and the difference in leg lengthening was 3.7±3.0 mm. Comparison of the first 20 cases with the last 20 cases showed that the accuracy of cup medialization was significantly improved. These differences were not affected by Crowe type or surgical position. Because the correct cup height and medialization are key issues in THA for dysplastic hip osteoarthritis, the accuracy of cup height and medialization in this imageless navigation system were acceptable for clinical application.
Differences in Measurement of Lower Limb Alignment Among Different Registration Methods of Navigation and Radiographs in TKA Using the OrthoPilot System
Authors: Seo Seung-Suk , Seo Jin-Hyeok , Sohn Myung-Whan , Kim Yoon-Jun
Published: October 2012

The purposes of this study were (1) to compare lower limb alignment measurements between radiographs and computer-assisted surgery and (2) to evaluate the discrepancy in lower limb alignment between computer-assisted surgery with a high tibial osteotomy protocol and computer-assisted surgery with a total knee arthroplasty (TKA) protocol in the same knee. Seventy-one TKAs were performed on patients with primary osteoarthritis using computer-assisted surgery. Preoperative lower limb alignment was measured using the mechanical axis during bipedal, weight-bearing, whole-leg anteroposterior radiography (measure 1). The intraoperative mechanical axis was measured with computer-assisted surgery according to the high tibial osteotomy protocol before joint exposure (measure 2). After changing the software and joint exposure, the intraoperative mechanical axis was measured with computer-assisted surgery according to TKA protocol (measure 3). After final TKA implantation, the lower limb mechanical axis was measured with computer-assisted surgery following the TKA protocol (measure 4). Postoperative lower limb alignment was measured using the mechanical axis on whole-leg standing anteroposterior radiographs (measure 5). The mechanical axis and median value from each group were compared. Factors affecting the mechanical axis measurement were also analyzed. The difference in the mechanical axis between measures 1 and 2, measures 1 and 3, and measures 2 and 3 was significant (
P
<.0001, <.0001, and =.0007, respectively). The difference between measures 4 and 5 was also significant (
P
<.0001). Factors affecting the mechanical axis measurement, such as age, height, weight, and range of motion, showed no correlation (
R
2
=.07244 and adjusted
R
2
=.01622). The pre- and postoperative radiological measurements of limb alignment using the mechanical axis were different from the intraoperative measurements with navigation.
Utilisation des stratégies d'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère dans un environnement virtuel multi-utilisateurs en trois dimensions
Authors: Tang Wen Jun
Published: October 2012

Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à l'utilisation des stratégies d'apprentissage d'une langue étrangère dans un monde virtuel, Second Life (SL). À partir d'une étude de terrain basée sur une approche ethnographique et complétée par un questionnaire, un entretien semi-directif et la consultation des traces d'apprentissage sur la plateforme Moodle, nous avons étudié les interactions d'une classe d'anglais de l'université de Bielefeld en Allemagne afin d'identifier les stratégies d'apprentissage utilisées par les apprenants. D'après les résultats obtenus, nous avons pu conclure que tout un éventail de métastratégies et de stratégies d'apprentissage a été mis en œuvre par les apprenants. Ils ont dû faire face à certains problèmes majeurs liés à l'utilisation de SL mais cela a favorisé une entraide entre eux tout en recourant à la langue cible. Malgré ces difficultés et le fait qu'ils aient évoqué un fort besoin de communiquer par des expressions gestuelles, la plupart des apprenants ont apprécié cette expérience.
SCoT est-il plus SAGE ?
Authors: Barone Sylvain
Published: October 2012

Les politiques d’aménagement du territoire ont un impact direct sur la ressource en eau et les milieux aquatiques. C’est la raison pour laquelle il est exigé, depuis la loi française du 21 avril 2004, que les schémas de cohérence territoriale (SCoT), qui déterminent les orientations générales de l’organisation de l’espace local, soient compatibles avec les schémas d’aménagement et de gestion des eaux (SAGE), qui fixent des objectifs généraux d’utilisation, de mise en valeur, de protection quantitative et qualitative de la ressource en eau à l’échelle du bassin versant. Mais qu’en est-il dans la pratique ? À partir de trois terrains français contrastés (Arc provençal, basse vallée de l’Ain et bassin de Thau), nous observons que le degré d’articulation entre SAGE et SCoT est extrêmement variable selon les endroits et cherchons à rendre compte de ces différences. À l’issue de notre enquête, il apparaît que l’évolution de la législation ne constitue pas en soi une garantie de meilleure prise en compte de l’eau dans l’aménagement du territoire. Cette prise en compte dépend beaucoup plus de la manière dont est défini l’intérêt général local en fonction de compromis validés et diffusés par les acteurs politiques dominants au sein des territoires concernés.
Classifying Consumer Comparison Opinions to Uncover Product Strengths and Weaknesses
Authors: Xu Kaiquan S. J. , Wang Wei , Ren Jimmy , Xu Jin S. Y. , Liu Long , Liao Stephen
Published: October 2012

With the Web 2.0 paradigm, a huge volume of Web content is generated by users at online forums, wikis, blogs, and social networks, among others. These user-contributed contents include numerous user opinions regarding products, services, or political issues. Among these user opinions, certain comparison opinions exist, reflecting customer preferences. Mining comparison opinions is useful as these types of viewpoints can bring more business values than other types of opinion data. Manufacturers can better understand relative product strengths or weaknesses, and accordingly develop better products to meet consumer requirements. Meanwhile, consumers can make purchasing decisions that are more informed by comparing the various features of similar products. In this paper, a novel Support Vector Machine-based method is proposed to automatically identify comparison opinions, extract comparison relations, and display results with the comparison relation maps by mining the volume of consumer opinions posted on the Web. The proposed method is empirically evaluated based on consumer opinions crawled from the Web. The initial experimental results show that the performance of the proposed method is promising and this research opens the door to utilizing these comparison opinions for business intelligence.
Wireless Sensor Node Placement Using Hybrid Genetic Programming and Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Tripathi Arpit , Gupta Pulkit , Trivedi Aditya , Kala Rahul
Published: October 2012

The ease of use and re-configuration in a wireless network has played a key role in their widespread growth. The node deployment problem deals with an optimal placement strategy of the wireless nodes. This paper models a wireless sensor network, consisting of a number of nodes, and a unique sink to which all the information is transmitted using the shortest connecting path. Traditionally the systems have used Genetic Algorithms for optimal placement of the nodes that usually fail to give results in problems employing large numbers of nodes or higher areas to be covered. This paper proposes a hybrid Genetic Programming (GP) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) for solving the problem. While the GP optimizes the deployment structure, the GA is used for actual node placement as per the GP optimized structure. The GA serves as a slave and GP serves as master in this hierarchical implementation. The algorithm optimizes total coverage area, energy utilization, lifetime of the network, and the number of nodes deployed. Experimental results show that the algorithm could place the sensor nodes in a variety of scenarios. The placement was found to be better than random placement strategy as well as the Genetic Algorithm placement strategy.
Intelligent Agent-Based e-Learning System for Adaptive Learning
Authors: Lai Hokyin , Wang Minhong , Wang Huaiqing
Published: October 2012

Adaptive learning approaches support learners to achieve the intended learning outcomes through a personalized way. Previous studies mistakenly treat adaptive e-Learning as personalizing the presentation style of the learning materials, which is not completely correct. The main idea of adaptive learning is to personalize the earning content in a way that can cope with individual differences in aptitude. In this study, an adaptive learning model is designed based on the Aptitude-Treatment Interaction theory and Constructive Alignment Model. The model aims at improving students’ learning outcomes through enhancing their intrinsic motivation to learn. This model is operationalized with a multi-agent framework and is validated under a controlled laboratory setting. The result is quite promising. The individual differences of students, especially in the experimental group, have been narrowed significantly. Students who have difficulties in learning show significant improvement after the test. However, the longitudinal effect of this model is not tested in this study and will be studied in the future.
Intelligent Information Retrieval Using Fuzzy Association Rule Classifier
Authors: Veeramalai Sankaradass , Kannan Arputharaj
Published: October 2012

As the use of web applications increases, when users use search engines for finding some information by inputting keywords, the number of web pages that match the information increases at a tremendous rate. It is not easy for a user to retrieve the exact web page which contains information he or she requires. In this paper, an approach to web page retrieval system using the hybrid combination of context based and collaborative filtering method employing the concept of fuzzy association rule classification is introduced and the authors propose an innovative clustering of user profiles in order to reduce the filtering space and achieves sub-linear filtering time. This approach can produce recommended web page links for users based on the information that associates strongly with users’ queries quickly with better efficiency and therefore improve the recall, precision of a search engine.
Software Effort Estimation
Authors: Deng Jeremiah D. , Purvis Martin , Purvis Maryam
Published: October 2012

Software development effort estimation is important for quality management in the software development industry, yet its automation still remains a challenging issue. Applying machine learning algorithms alone often cannot achieve satisfactory results. This paper presents an integrated data mining framework that incorporates domain knowledge into a series of data analysis and modeling processes, including visualization, feature selection, and model validation. An empirical study on the software effort estimation problem using a benchmark dataset shows the necessity and effectiveness of the proposed approach.
A Heuristic Method for Learning Path Sequencing for Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) in E-learning
Authors: Al-Radaei Sami A. M. , Mishra R. B.
Published: October 2012

Course sequencing is one of the vital aspects in an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) for e-learning to generate the dynamic and individual learning path for each learner. Many researchers used different methods like Genetic Algorithm, Artificial Neural Network, and TF-IDF (Term Frequency- Inverse Document Frequency) in E-leaning systems to find the adaptive course sequencing by obtaining the relation between the courseware. In this paper, heuristic semantic values are assigned to the keywords in the courseware based on the importance of the keyword. These values are used to find the relationship between courseware based on the different semantic values in them. The dynamic learning path sequencing is then generated. A comparison is made in two other important methods of course sequencing using TF-IDF and Vector Space Model (VSM) respectively, the method produces more or less same sequencing path in comparison to the two other methods. This method has been implemented using Eclipse IDE for java programming, MySQL as database, and Tomcat as web server.
ICT in the Classroom
Authors: Falcinelli Floriana , Laici Chiara
Published: October 2012

This chapter presents the research carried out by teachers and students of 6 junior high school classes on the modern ICT use in didactics. They participated in the “Cl@ssi2.0” project and were involved in the PoliCultura&Moodle format contained in Learning4All (www.learningforall.it), a section of a national macro-project financed by FIRB (Fondo per gli Investimenti della Ricerca di Base by the Italian Ministry of Education). A short questionnaire focusing on the students’ learning needs and their aptitude for new technologies was administered to students. Some observations were carried out during a normal school day. Some student-centered focus-groups were carried out. A LCMS Moodle environment was planned and implemented to support and expand the educational activities carried out in the classroom. Research has confirmed that technological innovation in school requires a strong support from governance, and teachers who gain the digital competence and a design capacity for innovation in teaching ordinary action.
Moodle
Authors: Marcato Elena , Scala Elisabetta
Published: October 2012

The Project “Moodle: A Platform for a School” started in February 2010 in the first year of a cl@sse 2.0 of the middle school I.C.9 of Bologna. Through the integrated use of the Interactive WB, of personal notebooks of the students and of the technological equipment of the school, students and teachers have had the opportunity to use Moodle for socialization, exploration, and learning. The project has encouraged inclusion and has developed the students’ autonomy, making learning experience creative and motivating.
Strategic Trials of Educ@TIon, the Telecom Italia Solution for Cooperative Digital Learning
Authors: Chiozzi Giovanna , Nassi Giovanni
Published: October 2012

Educ@tion is an application framework available to teachers, students, and headmasters, based on the integration of open source modules and specific developments of Telecom Italia, which do not require licensing costs. It is made up of a range of innovative didactic applications, which are integrated with an advanced solution for dashboard data management and school administration. The prototype is being tested in several Italian primary and secondary schools. During the academic year 2010/2011, Telecom Italia has run two trials in particular in two Italian high schools (one in Naples and the other in Trent). During these experiences teachers and students have tested the innovative module of editorial mash up, for the collaborative aggregation of multimedia didactic materials. Both schools have highlighted a major student feeling of involvement, their increased enthusiasm for the school and a higher rate of grades in the classes that had been involved in the digital activities.
Digital Teens
Authors: Cavagnero Simona Maria , Gallina Maria Adelaide , Grimaldi Renato
Published: October 2012

The aim of the research is to understand how much the use of the Web and its related services affect the lives of young people, as well as to reflect on the existence, or not, of a gap between students of secondary schools of first and second level. The research was carried out using a “focus group,” and it involved a total of 105 students, divided into two groups, of first and second level at secondary school. Their age ranged between 11 and 19. Each student had also had to answer to a questionnaire. By conducting focus groups, the authors investigated how young people use of the Web and how the tools of interaction affect different aspects of their lives: school, leisure time, and family.
Educating to Democracy and Social Participation through a “History of Religion” Course
Authors: Giorda Mariachiara , Guerrisi Marina
Published: October 2012

Starting from the potentialities and the limits of the Italian Religious Education and the healthiness of the knowledge about religions, this chapter introduces an experimental method to teach religions created in the last few years in some Italian secondary schools. The experimentation the article is focused on is one of the consequences arisen out of the debate on the option of an education about religions rather than into or from one religion. The background is the inadequacy of the Italian educational proposal related to the cultural and religious pluralism of our society, not only in a scholastic context, but also in a more popular level of the public debate. Since in a democratic and intercultural society the comprehension of different religious realities is indispensable, the development in Italy - as it already happens in other European countries - of a new knowledge about religions should undoubtedly serve this purpose: educating to democracy and social participation is possible through a “History of Religion” course.
History of European Education from Euclid to Contemporary Times
Authors: Malinetskiy G. G. , Kapelko O. N.
Published: October 2012

Humans have been approaching their cognitive limits through technological and social development, as well as widespread use of information and telecommunications systems and computers. Cognitive limits are a limiting condition of modern culture. The information and knowledge dimension is characterized by irrepressible and uncontrolled growth; it characterizes on one hand civilization itself and on the other hand every individual sphere of knowledge. In this case (when we have to process too much information), the necessary information and knowledge volume for effective action can be neither obtained, understood, nor used. This limit can also become a serious obstacle for the development of civilization, including limitations such as mineral resources, pure water, and fresh air. Overcoming this barrier can largely be accomplished through a revision of the form and content of education using an interdisciplinary approach.
Lessons from the Emotivate Project for Increasing Take-Up of Big Society and Responsible Capitalism Initiatives
Authors: Bishop Jonathan
Published: October 2012

Cooperation and respect for different opinions have been considered prime didactic goals in environmental projects which encourage citizen participation (Tsevreni, 2011). Through the realisation of the UK Government’s Big Society project, families, individuals, charities, and communities can come together to solve problems through galvanising, catalysing, prompting, encouraging, and agitating for community engagement and social renewal (Cameron, 2009). Environmental activism has long been touted as a necessary addition to the education system (Sanera & Shaw, 1999), and this chapter shows how the Big Society was made a reality before Conservative Party Leader David Cameron first presented it. However, as it usual in British politics, despite being in keeping with the aspirations of the other parties, partisanism is holding it back. For instance the Labour Party believes in “joining the forces of cooperation with competition” yet opposes the Big Society using superficial reasoning. Equally, the Co-operative Party, which is affiliated to Labour, appear more interested in attacking the Conservatives past record on cooperativism than engaging with them to further the cooperative movement. On its own, this shows that the Big Society, where people take action outside of government is needed, especially when one considers that Labour Governments rarely get anti-statist cooperative measures through without the support of other parties, such as the Conservatives in the case of the Cooperative Trust Schools in England. The Big Society therefore needs to be market-led on the basis of responsible capitalism rather than government-led such as via state socialist or state capitalism.
Succeeding Together
Authors: Iaquinta Rosa
Published: October 2012

Distress at school is one of the most pressing issues currently facing our school systems. There is, however, very little debate, discussion, research, or information on this matter, notwithstanding the fact that this distress can have a serious impact on the lives of the students affected, leading them to limit or to end their studies. This chapter aims to open up a debate on the social role that schools should play in order to combat the distress of students who live in areas remote from cities, who suffer a range of problems that can be both synchronous (student-student) or complementary (teacher-student). Here the difficulty manifested has been approached through cooperative learning, a methodology designed to activate a system of helping relationships, which result in the full involvement of each student in a number of key areas: collaborative structuring of the activity, assignment of roles, and co-constructive assessment.
From Broadcasting to Transforming
Authors: Impedovo Maria Antonietta , Iaquinta Rosa
Published: October 2012

This chapter discusses the construction of knowledge as an innovative approach to traditional teaching. This topic is treated via the presentation of a project about lawfulness that was realized in the Calabria region during the 2010/2011 school year. The study aims to identify within the project central elements that enable students to progress from the mere acquisition of information to a transformation of knowledge, where through applying the teaching, in a constructivist approach to learning, they are able to articulate it in their own language and not that of the teacher as in broadcasted learning environments typical of past generations. The main project-related aspects are investigated, and the role of situated learning and experiential learning is discussed. The changing role of the teacher and the increasing need to understand artifacts, such as tools and signs, are explored.
Proverbial Storytelling and Lifelong Learning in the Home-School Dialogue
Authors: Theodosopoulou Mara , Papalois Vana
Published: October 2012

Storytelling and proverb sharing teaches children daily living skills, common sense, and moral values and introduces intergeneration and multicultural lifelong learning at an early age in the home-school dialogue. This chapter introduces the Idiolect Definition (ID) approach to home-school dialogue. By using this tool for text analysis, both parents and children could help the child create a reflective home-school/portfolio regarding text analysis. The school grade this is used in is early years /primary school education onwards. The topic is home –school dialogue based education and lifelong learning. The age range of the students is nursery /elementary school pupils. The people in charge include parents, guardians, family members, and school teachers.
I Learn this Way!
Authors: Fusi Sabrina , Mehrnoosh Zara
Published: October 2012

The chapter presents a review of a series of workshops, called “I learn this way!” that was directed at children at the primary stage of education (ages 6 to 10) with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) to carry out the assignments using teaching tools suitable for their learning style, and at first grade secondary school children (age: 11 to 13) to help them structure a good method of study aimed to help them to learn more easily and effectively. Many children arrive at secondary school without having their own method of study, and the authors’ experience with those children with dyslexia can certainly provide educational ideas useful for all. The focus of this chapter will be mainly on the workshop aimed at first grade secondary school children.
Music Composition for Creative Thinking
Authors: Erman Maria Maddalena
Published: October 2012

Music composition may be used as a tool for the development of creative thinking; it can be considered an “exercise of imagination,” and it can offer new operative ways to develop interdisciplinary processes and to promote communicative, cognitive, cultural, aesthetic, and emotional functions. The author of this chapter introduces a report of educational experiences of music composition with pupils in Primary School where, through socio-constructivist learning, the students acquire new ways of reading and writing music and begin to elaborate a different score for new and original musical compositions, written, composed, and performed directly by children. This musical experience has the goal of using a “creative” teaching/learning process that contributes to the individual’s global education. This musical work on music composition is considered an appealing open project because of its formative nature and various applications: it develops a creative pedagogy which doesn’t transmit a static culture, but rather provides new thinking processes and new interaction modalities.
How to Bring Together Two Generations so Distant in Age, yet so Close by Heart
Authors: Fiorani Helga
Published: October 2012

The focus of this chapter is on the annual project “Adottiamo i nonni dell’ospizio,” translated “Let’s adopt grandparents in retirement home” (LAGR), winner of the Special Prize of Giornata delle Marche (2008). The main aim of the project is to promote the education of young people to active citizenship. It was developed by the teacher L. Del Papa, with the collaboration of 19 pupils of the 5th class, section C, including a girl suffering from Down’s syndrome and the elderly guests of the Opera Pia Ceci nursing home in Camerano (Italy). The project is part of an educational trend called “the thread that links the senior and youth generations,” sponsored by the USR (Ufficio Scolastico Regionale delle Marche).
New Technologies to Support Educational Inclusion
Authors: Macchia S. , Bossolasco D. , Fornasero A.
Published: October 2012

In this chapter, the authors present the first thoughts after the experience gained, still in progress, made by the Working Group Handicap (GLH) of our Institute on a set of six children with mental deficiency (DM), aims to encourage their inclusion in school using the e-collaboration. In the present study, three different modes / communications environments were compared in a context of cooperation between e-deficient students. Each child was accompanied by a teacher - tutors who monitored, for each environment, social context, interactivity, privacy and the feeling of privacy, online communication, and the degree of socialization achieved.
Making Identity Visible
Authors: Markovich Dalya Yafa
Published: October 2012

Museum in a Suitcase is a mobile museum dedicated to the voice and tradition of the Ethiopian Jewish community in Israel, whose culture and stories are barely heard. By using critical pedagogy, the “Museum” seeks to empower the pupils of the community and reexamine the social positions of underprivileged groups in the Israeli society. This innovative pedagogical practice was examined using ethnographic fieldwork in 4 workshops that took place in a 4th grade class in an underprivileged school in Israel that includes pupils of Ethiopian origin. The findings suggest that the educational process the pupils underwent brought on a positive change in the ways in which the Jewish Ethiopian culture was presented. However, its perception as peripheral and secondary to the hegemonic culture remained unchanged. It seems that it is precisely this process, and in particular the expression and place given to the Jewish Ethiopian culture in the class, that reflected and reproduced its peripheral status. These processes expose the existence of a gap between the assumptions of critical pedagogy and the results it yields, and therefore necessitate further research that will examine in depth both the complex ethno-class contexts in which this educational model seeks to operate, and its ideological-educational assumptions.
Experiences of Cooperative Learning and Social Learning to Manage Test Anxiety
Authors: Lamberti Mirko
Published: October 2012

In teaching environments, students that are in the same classroom do not always share the same basic skills. This is also true for ECDL classes. There is a big gap between those who have computers at home and can use them every day and those who do not. In the first case, kids can get distracted because they already know some of the materials and fail to see any new content. In the second case, intimidated by the comparison with more capable peers, learners run the risk of not feeling able to learn the subject. In this experiment, which involved 21 students from a class of the second year of a vocational school, a “short circuit” was put in place between students with different levels of basic skills in order to avoid loss of interest and increase the sense of self-efficacy necessary to take on any examination.
Let’s Make a Try!
Authors: Crawford Andrea , Gotti Agostino
Published: October 2012

An educational/sporting experience known as “Let’s Make a Try!” is presented. The aim of the project was to introduce the sport of Rugby into the contexts of education and schooling, with specific attention to the learning and social aspects. From the context of extramural educational projects – related to the important experience “Progetto Provinciale Extrascuola” (1) in the Province of Bergamo – and a reading of the needs of children from 6 to 13 years old, particularly of those who took part in those projects that aimed at promoting the learning process, the attempt was made to create innovative situations for learning through the proposal of a little known and little practiced sport: Rugby. The experience gave interesting results in relation to the initial problem areas of these minors such as difficulty in respecting rules, the control of aggressiveness, low self esteem, and frustration in competitive situations. Contrary to the opinion commonly held by volunteers and educational professionals, these weaknesses were shown not to be structural, but open to improvement if put to the test in innovative and purposeful ways. The project has brought to life a new way for these children to approach relationships through the discovery of controlled physical contact, the sense of belonging to a group (team), and the taking of personal initiative.
Integrating the Real and Virtual World for Academic Language Education in Second Life
Authors: Dell’Aria Carmela
Published: October 2012

This chapter focuses on a Second Language Acquisition (SLA) study conducted in virtual worlds that could help teachers in terms of knowledge about acquisition processes, in which technology is integration between formal and non formal education. The research comprises of two studies strongly focused on the development of Italian oral language proficiency. It was held within Second Life® (SL™)1 in order to explore the affordances of public spaces to enhance Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC)2 and to stimulate the oral production through learner’s engagement. Since 2007, a new pilot project, Café Italia, was developed by Carmela Dell’Aria (aka Misy Ferraris) in Second Life®. Starting from theory and research (SLA and Linguistics) the project leads to effective language learning practice. As matter of fact, the research moves to analyze learners’ needs, to give a focus for instruction, to adapt technology to their needs through experimentation, and to evaluate the results.
New Knowledge - New Learning?
Authors: Slowey Maria , Kozina Ekaterina
Published: October 2012

The landscape of university undergraduate and postgraduate education in Ireland has undergone a significant change within the broader context of the Bologna Process in Europe. In recent years, a range of national steering initiatives have sought to promote curriculum reform, enhancement of teaching and learning, use of new learning technology, new forms of student support, and professional development of academic staff. The aim of this chapter is to analyse both underlying challenges and some significant achievements. The latter include examples of collaborative initiatives between academics and centres for academic practice and student learning in universities and joint projects across an alliance involving eight institutions of higher education. The authors also talk about the drivers of curriculum reform in higher education and illustrate how these are translated in practice through the introduction of a major curriculum reform initiative, the Academic Framework for Innovation (AFI) in one university.
The Prospects for Teaching in Virtual Worlds
Authors: Panconesi Gianni
Published: October 2012

The aims of this project were to develop the participants’ skills and knowledge in educational design of Virtual World teaching, in management and construction of virtual objects and learning environments with examples of learning activities in Virtual worlds; to develop their capacity and confidence using Internet and its available resources, their knowledge of 3D environment and its usage for creating new learning scenarios, their knowledge of learning methods, good practices and lesson planning adopted in the Virtual worlds; to identify and assess the effectiveness of the results of the various activities carried out inworld to plan strategies, activities and resources for learning in the various subjects; to integrate the Virtual worlds as an innovative tool in daily teaching. During the course, teachers were also involved in developing a Project Work, experimenting subsequently with the students and evaluating the didactic use in the classroom.
Microteaching in Teacher Education through the Students’ Perspective
Authors: Chatzidimou Konstantinos D.
Published: October 2012

The present contribution examines microteaching as an instructional method and focuses on it as a vehicle of teacher training at the Department of Primary Education of the Democritus University of Thrace (Greece). In particular, 107 students of the department were asked to freely and anonymously submit their views on microteaching in a written text, after having been trained in this method for one semester. The content analysis of the produced texts indicated students’ approbation towards the procedure in question, verifying the findings of other similar studies. Their remarks regarding microteaching strengthen the plea for its incorporation in the curricula of university departments that train prospective teachers.
The Role of Teacher Self-Strategies in First Year Teacher Experience and Teacher Socialisation
Authors: Kozina Ekaterina , Seery Aidan , Loxley Andrew
Published: October 2012

It is recognised that the first year of professional practice of teachers, also known as an induction year, has far reaching implications for their subsequent teaching career. This chapter discusses the findings of a large scale mixed-methods research project (2006-2010) conducted on the socialisation experiences of beginning primary teachers in the Republic of Ireland. In detail, the project was concerned with real life experiences of teachers as they progress through their first year of professional practice. The data on which the chapter reports was collected by means of a postal questionnaire to 1635 teachers and 52 in-depth qualitative interviews. The authors start the discussion by providing a rationale for this research and a broad overview of the teaching challenges faced by beginning teachers. Consideration is given to the ways in which first year teachers generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences of classroom teaching and their approaches to address challenges they encounter. More specifically, the chapter discusses teacher self-strategies to find solutions to challenges to their practice and the ways in which collaboration and interaction with colleagues promotes classroom environments conducive to more effective teaching and learning. Lastly, some insight is provided into the models of induction supports available in primary schools and their potential to transform the experience of classroom teaching for beginning primary teachers.
E-Learning at Politecnico di Torino
Authors: Barbagallo Salvatore , Bertonasco Roberto , Corno Fulvio , Farinetti Laura , Mezzalama Marco , Reorda Matteo Sonza , Venuto Enrico
Published: October 2012

Politecnico di Torino has been actively experimenting distance education scenarios since 1992, through the development of innovative methodologies and tools. The real challenge today, however, is to move from small settings to a large-scale system able to suit the needs of a broad number of users belonging to different categories, from traditional students to part-time or full-time workers, from students living far from Torino to people with participation restriction due to disability. The emphasis then, is not only on the innovation of methodologies and technologies, but on their effective and economically sustainable use in a complex and multi-faceted setting. This chapter describes the services introduced in this direction and gives a preliminary evaluation after the first year of delivery.
Proposing Jig Saw Method to Teach Latin Literary Texts in Small Classes
Authors: Balbo Andrea
Published: October 2012

This chapter aims to investigate the opportunity of employing Jig Saw in teaching Latin literary texts, giving also an example of possible activity with Caesarian texts and concluding that, also in teaching Latin literature, Jig Saw (and Cooperative Learning - CL) could be usefully proposed to teachers attention. At the end of the chapter, the author reviews some web tools for Latin, in order to focus their usefulness for a CL activity and to evaluate their possible development strategies.
A Math E-Learning Course to Improve Pupils’ Performances
Authors: Gallea Sandro , Gallea Roberto
Published: October 2012

This chapter presents an e-learning teaching/learning activity to support the traditional activities at school. It was developed as a part of a P.O.R. project (Piano Operativo Regionale) of the Regione Sicilia for the Mathematics subject. The experiment was conducted at Libero Grassi school (Istituto Tecnico Commerciale Statale) in Palermo, Italy. The designated e-learning platform is the open source system, Moodle. The main purpose of the formative activity is to reduce students’ educational gap, which may generate “educational debits” at the end of the school year. If the students do not overcome these debits, they are not admitted to the next year. This activity took place during the second four-month term of the 2010/11 academic year. Results were excellent; no students had any educational debits. There was also an improvement in the students’ attitude towards the subject in the collaborative and cooperative approach between the students and the teacher. It was also positive for the rest of the class.
Hands-On Math in Kindergarten
Authors: Fiorani Helga
Published: October 2012

The purpose of this contribution is to describe innovative proto-mathematical educational activities at kindergarten level (K) in the context of semiotic mediation. As a result of preliminary analysis of the major difficulties in writing numbers and recognizing the semantic value of the decimal position system found in primary school children, it was decided that the teaching of the different numbering systems would be brought into K, with the help of specific games. The goal is to demonstrate the importance of the natural and simple nature of “mathematical” language for the child, to stress the role of tools in the mathematical learning processes, and to highlight the role of the teacher in the collective mathematical discussion.
Don’t Trash Your Spam!
Authors: Delfino Manuela
Published: October 2012

Some activities that are typically regarded as “a waste of time” may inspire useful experiences in school contexts. This is the case of spamming. As competent users of digital technologies, we do everything we can in order to block spam messages (e.g., by choosing, training and updating anti-spam filters), but as teachers we can find that also in spam there is an educative potential that it is worth cultivating. This chapter presents a reflection based on an educational experience realized in a lower secondary Italian school during a course on Digital Literacy aimed at making students aware of different synchronous and asynchronous communication tools. In the activity presented here, the focus was on the analysis of different spam and phishing messages. Interacting within a wiki environment, students had the chance to reflect on the different elements that should be taken into account to detect strange and dangerous e-mail postings.
Physics and Creative Thinking Connected by “Bit”
Authors: Pavani Silva
Published: October 2012

In this work, innovative methodologies to teach scientific matters have been put to test, aimed at recovering the those human attitudes that lies at the foundation of physics, including curiosity, ability to observe nature, and the search of explanations. Observations made during the experimentations can then be discussed together by the students and finally organized according to a layout to highlight logical connections. Through the new didactical path, personal motivations and inward reflection on one’s own ability to learn are encouraged, and the student is lead to gain skills for more effective study and to master memorization techniques. The mythology has been here put into practice in the first level at high school, also exploiting internet and multimedia facilities.
Active Learning of Science in the European Dimension
Authors: Guida Maria
Published: October 2012

This chapter talks about the author’s experience as a teacher in the panel of SPICE (Science pedagogy innovation centre for Europe), a partnership between fifteen European countries for the renewal of science education in a two-year project carried out by European Schoolnet and funded under the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme. The aim of this project is to identify and validate a number of good practices (GPs) of teaching in the field of MST (Mathematics, Science, Technology) which will be available for all European teachers on a special portal in order to use them with their students. GP criteria will become guidelines for new projects to ensure innovation and quality. SPICE was a great occasion for the participants’ professional development due to the international collaboration, the opportunity of a deep reflection on their teaching methodology, and the chance of a scientific observation of their students’ learning during different kinds of activity.
Software Licenses, Open Source Components, and Open Architectures
Authors: Alspaugh Thomas A. , Asuncion Hazeline U. , Scacchi Walt
Published: October 2012

A substantial number of enterprises and independent software vendors are adopting a strategy in which software-intensive systems are developed with an open architecture (OA) that may contain open source software (OSS) components or components with open APIs. The emerging challenge is to realize the benefits of openness when components are subject to different copyright or property licenses. In this chapter, the authors identify key properties of OSS licenses, present a license analysis scheme to identify license conflicts arising from composed software elements, and apply it to provide guidance for software architectural design choices whose goal is to enable specific licensed component configurations. The scheme has been implemented in an operational environment and demonstrates a practical, automated solution to the problem of determining overall rights and obligations for alternative OAs as a technique for aligning such architectures with enterprise strategies supporting open systems.
Contexts and Challenges
Authors: Alfred Charlie
Published: October 2012

Historically, architecture has been about the structure of the solution, focused on the components that make up a system and the connectors which enable their coordinated interaction. Given this solution focus, systems, enterprise, and software architecture evolved in different directions. During the past 15+ years, architectural theory and practice have been undergoing a gradual, but significant, shift in focus. Five trends which highlight this shift are: decision rationale, challenges vs. requirements, systems-of-systems, contextual analysis, and design cognition. Each of these trends facilitates a necessary shift from the architecture of the solution to the architecture of the problem. In addition to enabling a clearer link between the problem and solution, these trends also help to unify systems, enterprise, and software architecture by providing a common foundation for collaboration on complex problems.