Towards a minimalist approach to lesson planning of an introductory database course

Research addressing learning of individual database topics is much more common than research that attempts to address broader issues in learning of database. This paper proposes a lesson planning approach for an introductory database course based on selected principles of the minimalist instructional design and the ARCS model of motivational design. The basic idea is to design action oriented lessons in a way to involve student participation as early as possible and to foster confidence of students in the learning process. The adoption of the approach results in an ordering of database topics which is significantly different from mainstream practices. © 2013 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

A method to measure EMI due to electric field coupling on PCB

A new method to measure electric field coupling between PCB copper traces is presented. This method enables measurement of noise from waveforms obtainable from breadboard prototypes, which is available in an early stage in the design process. The measurement result can then be analyzed and provide information for further PCB design. This method is verified by experiments and applied to an off-line flyback converter.published_or_final_versio

EFL students’ perception of the use of text-to-speech synthesis in pronunciation learning

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners usually find speaking particularly challenging. One way to improve speaking skills in a foreign language is to speak with native speakers of the target language as often as possible. However this is not always easy in places where the population of speakers of the target language is scarce. Language anxiety is another major hurdle that EFL learners need to overcome. Being afraid of making mistakes, students tend to be reluctant to speak in the classroom. Teachers who constantly correct students' errors can intensify the students' apprehension. A key challenge in EFL learning is that how adequate help can be provided to learners with limited teachers' intervention. This paper reports the design of a study on the use of text‐to‐speech (TTS) synthesis in English pronunciation learning with the aims to alleviate EFL students' language anxiety, and to empower them to learn pronunciation with limited teachers' support. The study adopts TTS synthesis as a pronunciation model in exercises focusing on the supra‐segmental level. While coverage of the segmental level is not planned in the study, TTS synthesis facilitates learners to learn pronunciation of unfamiliar words by listening to the synthesized speech. The research question of this study is whether TTS synthesis can help alleviate EFL students' language anxiety, resulting in improving students' perception towards English pronunciation learning. Six one‐hour sessions on English pronunciation are planned for a class of secondary 3 students over a two‐month period. The instructional design is based on the John Keller's work which emphasises the motivation design. Data about the students' perception on English pronunciation learning will be collected in the first and the last sessions for analysis. Selected students will be asked for any perception change on English pronunciation learning in the study and the reasons behind in subsequent interviews.published_or_final_versio

Book Recommendation System using Data Mining for the University of Hong Kong Libraries

This paper describes the theoretical design of a Library Recommendation System, employing k- means clustering Data Mining algorithm, with subject headings of borrowed items as the basis for generating pertinent recommendations. Sample data from the University of Hong Kong Libraries (HKUL) has been used in a Quantitative approach to study the existing Library Information System, Innopac. Data Warehousing and Data Mining (k-means clustering) techniques are discussed. The primary benefit of the system is higher quality of academic research ensuing from better search results. Personalization improves individual effectiveness of learners and overall in better utilizing library resources.published_or_final_versio

Arithmetic on a Distributed-Memory Quantum Multicomputer

We evaluate the performance of quantum arithmetic algorithms run on a distributed quantum computer (a quantum multicomputer). We vary the node capacity and I/O capabilities, and the network topology. The tradeoff of choosing between gates executed remotely, through ``teleported gates'' on entangled pairs of qubits (telegate), versus exchanging the relevant qubits via quantum teleportation, then executing the algorithm using local gates (teledata), is examined. We show that the teledata approach performs better, and that carry-ripple adders perform well when the teleportation block is decomposed so that the key quantum operations can be parallelized. A node size of only a few logical qubits performs adequately provided that the nodes have two transceiver qubits. A linear network topology performs acceptably for a broad range of system sizes and performance parameters. We therefore recommend pursuing small, high-I/O bandwidth nodes and a simple network. Such a machine will run Shor's algorithm for factoring large numbers efficiently.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, ACM transactions format. Extended version of Int. Symp. on Comp. Architecture (ISCA) paper; v2, correct one circuit error, numerous small changes for clarity, add reference

An evaluation of the Change Up programme

This report presents the findings of an evaluation of the Change Up programme

Stream Fusion, to Completeness

Stream processing is mainstream (again): Widely-used stream libraries are now available for virtually all modern OO and functional languages, from Java to C# to Scala to OCaml to Haskell. Yet expressivity and performance are still lacking. For instance, the popular, well-optimized Java 8 streams do not support the zip operator and are still an order of magnitude slower than hand-written loops. We present the first approach that represents the full generality of stream processing and eliminates overheads, via the use of staging. It is based on an unusually rich semantic model of stream interaction. We support any combination of zipping, nesting (or flat-mapping), sub-ranging, filtering, mapping-of finite or infinite streams. Our model captures idiosyncrasies that a programmer uses in optimizing stream pipelines, such as rate differences and the choice of a "for" vs. "while" loops. Our approach delivers hand-written-like code, but automatically. It explicitly avoids the reliance on black-box optimizers and sufficiently-smart compilers, offering highest, guaranteed and portable performance. Our approach relies on high-level concepts that are then readily mapped into an implementation. Accordingly, we have two distinct implementations: an OCaml stream library, staged via MetaOCaml, and a Scala library for the JVM, staged via LMS. In both cases, we derive libraries richer and simultaneously many tens of times faster than past work. We greatly exceed in performance the standard stream libraries available in Java, Scala and OCaml, including the well-optimized Java 8 streams