Search Results (4)

Sex differences have been a rarely addressed aspect in digital game-based learning (DGBL). Likewise, mixed results have been presented regarding the effects according to sex and the conditions that generate these effects. The present work studied the effects of a drill-and-practice mathematical game on primary students. The study focused on an analysis by sex, measuring motivation and learning in the practice activity. Also, two instructional mechanics were considered regarding the question answering to search for possible differences: a multiple-try feedback (MTF) condition and a single-try feedback (STF) condition. A total of 81 students from four courses and two schools participated in the intervention. The study’s main findings were as follows: (a) the girls outperformed the boys in terms of the students’ learning gains; (b) the girls presented lower levels of competence and autonomy than the boys; (c) under MTF, the girls presented lower levels of autonomy but no differences in competence contrasted with the boys; (d) under STF, the girls presented lower levels of competence but no differences in autonomy contrasted with the boys; (e) no sex differences existed in interest, effort, and value, in general, as per the instructional condition. This study enhances the knowledge of sex differences under diverse instructional settings, in particular providing insights into the possible differences by sex when varying the number of attempts provided to students. Full article

Coronavirus disease has caused city blockades, making people spend longer in residential areas than ever before. Human well-being and health are directly affected by the suppression of the epidemic through residential planning and design. In this regard, scholars from all over the world have made significant efforts to explore the links between COVID-19 and residential planning and design, trying to adjust the states in time to cope with the effects of COVID-19 in the long run. This study is based on Bibliometrix to conduct a scientometric analysis of the literature on “Effects of COVID-19 on residential planning and design (ECRPD)” published in Web of Science and Scopus from 2019 to October 2022. The aim of this study is to comprehensively present the scientific knowledge of ECRPD research through general characteristics’ analysis, citation analysis, and horizontal conceptual structure analysis, and try to summarize how residential planning and design responds to COVID-19, so as to provide support and advice for urban planners, builders, and policy makers. According to the results, ECRPD research is growing significantly, and the scientific productivity of it has increased exponentially. The main effects and feedback are characterized by three aspects: residential environment, residential building space and planning space, and residential traffic and community management. Generally, ECRPD research has expanded beyond the disciplines of architecture and planning. Environmental and energy concerns have attracted the most attention, though practical research into residential building space is relatively limited. To fully deal with COVID-19’s multiple negative facets, it is imperative to promote cross-disciplinary and multi-field collaboration, implement new technologies and methods for traditional disciplines, develop bioclimatic buildings to cope with environmental changes, and strengthen practical research in residential building and planning to ensure that a sustainable and resilient living environment is created in the post-pandemic era. Full article

The Coronavirus pandemic has thrown public schooling into crisis, trying to juggle shifting instructional modes: classrooms, online, home-schooling, student pods, hybrid and blends of these. This poses an urgent need to redesign curriculum using available technology to implement approaches that incorporate the findings of the learning sciences, including the emphasis on collaborative learning, computer mediation, student discourse and embodied feedback. This paper proposes a model of such learning, illustrated using existing dynamic-geometry technology to translate Euclidean geometry study into collaborative learning by student pods. The technology allows teachers and students to interact with the same material in multiple modes, so that blended approaches can be flexibly adapted to students with diverse preferred learning approaches or needs and structured into parallel or successive phases of blended learning. The technology can be used by online students, co-located small groups and school classrooms, with teachers and students having shared access to materials and to student work across interaction modes. Full article

Neurological disorders such as cerebral paralysis, spinal cord injuries, and strokes, result in the impairment of motor control and induce functional difficulties to human beings like walking, standing, etc. Physical injuries due to accidents and muscular weaknesses caused by aging affect people and can cause them to lose their ability to perform daily routine functions. In order to help people recover or improve their dysfunctional activities and quality of life after accidents or strokes, assistive devices like exoskeletons and orthoses are developed. Control strategies for control of exoskeletons are developed with the desired intention of improving the quality of treatment. Amongst recent control strategies used for rehabilitation robots, active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) strategy is a systematic way out from a robust control paradox with possibilities and promises. In this modern era, we always try to find the solution in order to have minimum resources and maximum output, and in robotics-control, to approach the same condition observer-based control strategies is an added advantage where it uses a state estimation method which reduces the requirement of sensors that is used for measuring every state. This paper introduces improved active disturbance rejection control (I-ADRC) controllers as a combination of linear extended state observer (LESO), tracking differentiator (TD), and nonlinear state error feedback (NLSEF). The proposed controllers were evaluated through simulation by investigating the sagittal plane gait trajectory tracking performance of two degrees of freedom, Lower Limb Robotic Rehabilitation Exoskeleton (LLRRE). This multiple input multiple output (MIMO) LLRRE has two joints, one at the hip and other at the knee. In the simulation study, the proposed controllers show reduced trajectory tracking error, elimination of random, constant, and harmonic disturbances, robustness against parameter variations, and under the influence of noise, with improvement in performance indices, indicates its enhanced tracking performance. These promising simulation results would be validated experimentally in the next phase of research. Full article