International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science (IJMECS)

ISSN: 2075-0161 (Print)

ISSN: 2075-017X (Online)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs

Website: https://www.mecs-press.org/ijmecs

Published By: MECS Press

Frequency: 6 issues per year

Number(s) Available: 129

SJR: 2022 0.295

(IJMECS) in Google Scholar Citations / h5-index

IJMECS is committed to bridge the theory and practice of modern education and computer science. From innovative ideas to specific algorithms and full system implementations, IJMECS publishes original, peer-reviewed, and high quality articles in the areas of modern education and computer science. IJMECS is a well-indexed scholarly journal and is indispensable reading and references for people working at the cutting edge of computer science, modern education and applications.

 

IJMECS has been abstracted or indexed by several world class databases: Scopus, SCImago, Google Scholar, Microsoft Academic Search, CrossRef, Baidu Wenku, IndexCopernicus, IET Inspec, EBSCO, JournalSeek, ULRICH's Periodicals Directory, WorldCat, Scirus, Academic Journals Database, Stanford University Libraries, Cornell University Library, UniSA Library, CNKI Scholar, ProQuest, J-Gate, ZDB, BASE, OhioLINK, iThenticate, Open Access Articles, Open Science Directory, National Science Library of Chinese Academy of Sciences, The HKU Scholars Hub, etc..

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IJMECS Vol. 16, No. 2, Apr. 2024

REGULAR PAPERS

Unveiling Teachers’ Views on the use of Project-based Learning: An Epistemic Network Analysis Approach

By Sariya Binsaleh Wannisa Matcha

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.01, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

The role of teachers in facilitating learning is undoubtedly important as they are responsible for selecting appropriate instructional approaches. Project-based learning (PrBL) has gained recognition as an effective teaching approach as it encourages students to think critically, collaboratively, and systematically. PrBL refers to an educational approach that emphasizes student engagement and active learning through the completion of real-world projects. Students are required to acquire information, search, and experiment to solve a specific problem. PrBL is largely adopted by the higher educational level. Limited use in primary schools has been highlighted by much research. The decision to adopt such a method depends on several factors. The main drivers to make such a decision are the teachers’ preference and the readiness for support from the school. The location of the school largely contributes to the readiness, facilities, support, and quality of education. This paper examines the teachers’ point of view on the utilization of PrBL. Comparing the points of view of the teachers who taught in different locations allows us to observe the factors that should be carefully addressed in order to promote the use of PrBL in primary schools. By using both qualitative and quantitative data, this study aims to understand the potential drawbacks preventing from using the PrBL. The data mining techniques were used to discover insights from both types of data including Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) and sequence mining. ENA employs various mathematical and statistical techniques to analyze and visualize the network structure and dynamics. It can measure the strength of connections, identify central key concepts, and compare the differences in the structure between groups. Sequence mining allows us to observe the pattern of PrBL utilization. The results showed that even though teachers viewed PrBL as a useful approach, not many of them are using it. Also, there are some inconsistencies of knowledge on the steps in the PrBL process. Additionally, teachers often mentioned several problems they faced when using the PrBL. Hence, extra support and knowledge provision are needed, especially for schools located in suburban and rural areas.

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Evaluation of Tennis Teaching Effect Using Optimized DL Model with Cloud Computing System

By Sai Srinivas Vellela M Venkateswara Rao Srihari Varma Mantena M V Jagannatha Reddy Ramesh Vatambeti Syed Ziaur Rahman

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.02, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

Evidence from psychology and behaviour therapy shows that engaging in sports activities at home might help alleviate stress and depression during COVID-19 lockdown periods. A clever virtual coach that provides table tennis instruction at a low cost without invading privacy might be a great way to maintain a healthy lifestyle without leaving the house. In this article, we look at creating the second main constituent of the virtual-coach table tennis shadow-play training scheme: an evaluation system for the effectiveness of the forehand stroke. This research was carried out to demonstrate the efficacy of the suggested bidirectional long-short-term memory (BLSTM) model in assessing the table tennis forehand shadow-play sensory data supplied by the authors in comparison with LSTM time-series investigation approaches. Information was collected by tracking the rackets of 16 players as they performed forehand strokes and assigning assessment ratings to each stroke based on the input of three instructors. The scientists looked at how the hyperparameter values, which are chosen via an optimisation approach, affected the behaviour of DL models. The adaptive learning differential approach has been introduced to enhance the functionality of the standard dragonfly algorithm. Optimal BLSTM settings are selected with the help of the enhanced dragonfly algorithm (IDFOA).  
The experimental findings of this study indicate that the BLSTM-IDFOA is the most effective regression approach currently available.

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Utilizing Random Forest and XGBoost Data Mining Algorithms for Anticipating Students’ Academic Performance

By Mukesh Kumar Navneet Singh Jessica Wadhwa Palak Singh Girish Kumar Ahmed Qtaishat

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.03, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

The growing field of educational data mining seeks to analyse educational data in order to develop models for improving education and the effectiveness of educational institutions. Educational data mining is utilised to develop novel approaches for extracting information from educational databases, enabling improved decision-making within the educational system. The main objective of this research paper is to investigate recent advancements in data mining techniques within the field of educational research, while also analysing the methodologies employed by previous researchers in this area. The predictive capabilities of various machine learning algorithms, namely Logistic Regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, Support Vector Machine, Random Forest, K-Nearest Neighbour, and XGBoost Classifier, were evaluated and compared for their effectiveness in determining students' academic performance. The utilisation of Random Forest and XGBoost classifiers in analysing scholastic, behavioural, and additional student features has demonstrated superior accuracy compared to other algorithms. The training and testing of these classification models achieved an impressive accuracy rate of approximately (96.46% & 87.50%) and (95.05% & 84.38%), respectively. Employing this technique can provide educators with valuable insights into students' motivations and behaviours, ultimately leading to more effective instruction and reduced student failure rates. Students' achievements significantly influence the delivery of education.

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STEM Project for Vehicle Image Segmentation Using Fuzzy Logic

By Serhiy Balovsyak Oleksandr Derevyanchuk Vasyl Kovalchuk Hanna Kravchenko Yuriy Ushenko Zhengbing Hu

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.04, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

A STEM project was implemented, which is intended for students of technical specialties to study the principles of building and using a computer system for segmentation of images of railway transport using fuzzy logic. The project consists of 4 stages, namely stage #1 "Reading images from video cameras using a personal computer or Raspberry Pi microcomputer", stage #2 "Digital image pre-processing (noise removal, contrast enhancement, contour selection)", stage #3 "Segmentation of images", stage #4 "Detection and analysis of objects on segmented images by means of fuzzy logic". Hardware and software tools have been developed for the implementation of the STEM project. A personal computer and a Raspberry Pi 3B+ microcomputer with attached video cameras were used as hardware. Software tools are implemented in the Python language using the Google Colab cloud platform. At each stage of the project, students deepen their knowledge and gain practical skills: they perform hardware and software settings, change program code, and process experimental images of vehicles. It is shown that the processing of experimental images ensures the correct selection of meaningful parts in images of vehicles, for example, windows and number plates in images of locomotives. Assessment of students' educational achievements was carried out by testing them before the start of the STEM project, as well as after the completion of the project. The topics of the test tasks corresponded to the topics of the stages of the STEM project. Improvements in educational achievements were obtained for all stages of the project.

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Factors Affecting the Fostering of Information and Communications Technology Application in Teaching for Teacher by the Blended Learning Model

By Nga Viet Thi Nguyen Dung Van Ha Vu Thuan Khuu

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.05, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

Through the Blended Learning model, this study explores the factors affecting fostering of information and communications technology (ICT) applications in teaching for teachers in the Northern midland and mountainous provinces of Vietnam. The survey is designed to be uploaded to the Learning Management System (LMS) system and requires learners to answer online after completing the course. Influential factors are considered, including 9 groups formed from 45 questions (independent variables). The independent variables are evaluated based on the 5-level Likert score bar. This study uses Cronbach's alpha to determine the reliability of the questions. The survey received responses from 1484 teachers who completed the course in the northern midland and mountainous provinces. After removing the answers with no statistical significance, the remaining samples included in the analysis through SPSS software were 558. The results of the EFA analysis retain 29 observed variables and indicate 7 factors affecting the fostering of ICT application in teaching for teachers. Next, using CFA (Confirmatory Factor Analysis), the study removed 02 more observed variables and pointed out 7 factors affecting the effectiveness of fostering information technology application in teaching for teachers, includes (i) Training methods; (ii) Organization of training courses; (iii) Online learning management system; (iv) Facilities for face-to-face learning; (v) Training content; (vi) Training objectives; (vii) Impact of training content. The results will help researchers and educational administrators find ways to improve the quality of professional development for teachers in high schools in this content and other similar contents.

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Criterion for Ranking Interval Alternatives in a Decision-Making Task

By Yuri Romanenkov Vadym Mukhin Viktor Kosenko Daniil Revenko Olena Lobach Natalia Kosenko Alla Yakovleva

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.06, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

The study solves the problem of improving the methodological and algorithmic support of the decision-making process by developing a model of the preference criterion for interval evaluations of alternatives. The aim of the study is to improve the efficiency of decision-making based on interval expert data under conditions of uncertainty and risk by developing a criterion for the preferences of interval evaluations of overlapping alternatives. The object of the study is the decision-making process based on the classical efficiency matrix with interval elements, the subject is the model of decision maker's (DMP) preference criteria for interval evaluations of alternatives. The relevance of the task is stipulated by the urgency of the problem of adapting classical decision-making methods and models to practical problems of gray analysis, in particular, with interval uncertainty of primary expert data. A multifactorial model of the normalized preference criterion for interval evaluations of alternatives is proposed. Due to the additional consideration of the degree of preference of the DMP for the width of interval estimates, it allows ranking interval estimates of alternatives that overlap and are considered classically incomparable. A single analytical form of the normalized criterion model for ranking interval, weighted interval and point estimates makes it possible to increase the degree of automation of processing interval expert estimates in the decision-making process. Recommendations for the practical application of the proposed model are formulated. The developed model and corresponding algorithms can be used in automated expert decision support systems.

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Performance Evaluation of Evolutionary Algorithms on Solving the Influence Maximization Problem in Social Networks

By Agash Uthayasuriyan Hema Chandran G Kavvin UV Sabbineni Hema Mahitha Jeyakumar G

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.02.07, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2024

Influence Maximization (IM) is an optimization problem that deals with identifying the most valuable individuals/ nodes present in the network to attain the maximal information spread when they are activated. Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) inspired from nature are one of the most powerful methods to solve an optimization problem. This paper attempts to solve the IM problem using few of the popular EAs such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), and Differential Evolution (DE). These algorithm’s performance is evaluated using four comparative metrics, that deal with assessing solution quality, computational efficiency, and scalability. The experimental results of these EAs when tested on several real-world networks reveal that the GE and PSO algorithms were found to produce relatively poorer quality of seed nodes and also with higher computational costs, making it less preferrable. DE was able to obtain the best seed sets (in terms of influence spread value) than other algorithms and ACO, the fastest among all the considered algorithms in terms of execution time, was found to obtain seed set with appreciable influence spread with a slightly higher computational cost than DE. 

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LLMs Performance on Vietnamese High School Biology Examination

By Xuan-Quy Dao Ngoc-Bich Le

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.06.02, Pub. Date: 8 Dec. 2023

Large Language Models (LLMs) have received significant attention due to their potential to transform the field of education and assessment through the provision of automated responses to a diverse range of inquiries. The objective of this research is to examine the efficacy of three LLMs - ChatGPT, BingChat, and Bard - in relation to their performance on the Vietnamese High School Biology Examination dataset. This dataset consists of a wide range of biology questions that vary in difficulty and context. By conducting a thorough analysis, we are able to reveal the merits and drawbacks of each LLM, thereby providing valuable insights for their successful incorporation into educational platforms. This study examines the proficiency of LLMs in various levels of questioning, namely Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, and High Application. The findings of the study reveal complex and subtle patterns in performance. The versatility of ChatGPT is evident as it showcases potential across multiple levels. Nevertheless, it encounters difficulties in maintaining consistency and effectively addressing complex application queries. BingChat and Bard demonstrate strong performance in tasks related to factual recall, comprehension, and interpretation, indicating their effectiveness in facilitating fundamental learning. Additional investigation encompasses educational environments. The analysis indicates that the utilization of BingChat and Bard has the potential to augment factual and comprehension learning experiences. However, it is crucial to acknowledge the indispensable significance of human expertise in tackling complex application inquiries. The research conducted emphasizes the importance of adopting a well-rounded approach to the integration of LLMs, taking into account their capabilities while also recognizing their limitations. The refinement of LLM capabilities and the resolution of challenges in addressing advanced application scenarios can be achieved through collaboration among educators, developers, and AI researchers.

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Predicting College Students’ Placements Based on Academic Performance Using Machine Learning Approaches

By Mukesh Kumar Nidhi Walia Sushil Bansal Girish Kumar Korhan Cengiz

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.06.01, Pub. Date: 8 Dec. 2023

Predicting College placements based on academic performance is critical to supporting educational institutions and students in making informed decisions about future career paths. The present research investigates the use of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to predict college students' placements using academic performance data. The study makes use of a dataset that includes a variety of academic markers, such as grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, obtained from a varied sample of college students. To create predictive models, the study analyses numerous ML algorithms, including Logistic Regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and K-Nearest Neighbour. The predictive models are evaluated using performance criteria such as accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The most effective machine learning method for forecasting students' placements based on academic achievement is identified through a comparative study. The findings show that Random Forest approaches have the potential to effectively forecast college student placements. The findings show that academic factors such as grades and test scores have a considerable impact on prediction accuracy. The findings of this study could be beneficial to educational institutions, students, and career counsellors.

[...] Read more.
Project-Based Learning with Gallery Walk: The Association with the Learning Motivation and Achievement

By Zamree Che-aron Wannisa Matcha

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.05.01, Pub. Date: 8 Oct. 2023

With the rapid and constant changes in computer and information technology, the content and learning methods in Computer Science related courses need to be continuously adapted and consistently aligned with the latest developments in the field. This paper proposes a learning approach called the Gallery-walk integrated Project-Based Learning (G-PBL) which can develop students’ lifelong learning skills that are extremely crucial for Computer Science students. The G-PBL was designed by incorporating the advantages of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and gallery walk learning strategy. In contrast to traditional PBL where students may present their project work to instructors only, students have to present their project work to their classmates as part of the G-PBL approach. All students are required to evaluate their peers’ project work and then give feedback and suggestions. For the research experiments, the G-PBL was implemented as an instructional approach in two Computer Science related courses. This study focuses on exploring the differences in knowledge gain, learning motivation, and perceived usefulness when learning by using the teacher-centered and G-PBL approach. Moreover, the impact of gender differences on learning outcomes is also investigated. The results reveal that using the G-PBL approach helps students to gain more knowledge significantly, for both male and female students. In terms of motivation, female students are more favorable toward the G-PBL approach. On the contrary, male students prefer learning via a teacher-centered approach. Regarding the perceived usefulness, female students strongly view the G-PBL as a highly effective learning approach, whereas male students are more prone to concur that the teacher-centered approach is a more effective learning method.

[...] Read more.
Analyzing Students’ Performance Using Fuzzy Logic and Hierarchical Linear Regression

By Dao Thi Thanh Loan Nguyen Duy Tho Nguyen Huu Nghia Vu Dinh Chien Tran Anh Tuan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2024.01.01, Pub. Date: 8 Feb. 2024

Due to the COVID-19 situation, all activities, including education, were shifted to online platforms. Consequently, instructors encountered increased challenges in evaluating students. In traditional assessment methods, instructors often face ambiguous cases when evaluating students’ competencies. Recent research has focused on the effectiveness of fuzzy logic in assessing students’ competencies, considering the presence of uncertain factors or multiple variables. Additionally, demographic characteristics, which can potentially influence students’ performance, are not typically utilized as inputs in the fuzzy logic method. Therefore, analyzing students’ performance by incorporating these factors is crucial in suggesting adjustments to teaching and learning strategies. In this study, we employ a combination of fuzzy logic and hierarchical linear regression to analyze students’ performance. The experiment involved 318 students from various programs and showed that the hybrid approach assessed students’ performance with greater nuance and adaptability when compared to a traditional method. Moreover, the findings in this study revealed the following: 1) There are differences in students’ performance between traditional and fuzzy evaluation methods; 2) The learning method is an impact on students’ fuzzy grades; 3) Students studying online do not perform better than those studying onsite. These findings suggest that instructors and educators should explore effective strategies being fair and suitable in assessment and learning.

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House Price Prediction using a Machine Learning Model: A Survey of Literature

By Nor Hamizah Zulkifley Shuzlina Abdul Rahman Nor Hasbiah Ubaidullah Ismail Ibrahim

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2020.06.04, Pub. Date: 8 Dec. 2020

Data mining is now commonly applied in the real estate market. Data mining's ability to extract relevant knowledge from raw data makes it very useful to predict house prices, key housing attributes, and many more. Research has stated that the fluctuations in house prices are often a concern for house owners and the real estate market. A survey of literature is carried out to analyze the relevant attributes and the most efficient models to forecast the house prices. The findings of this analysis verified the use of the Artificial Neural Network, Support Vector Regression and XGBoost as the most efficient models compared to others. Moreover, our findings also suggest that locational attributes and structural attributes are prominent factors in predicting house prices. This study will be of tremendous benefit, especially to housing developers and researchers, to ascertain the most significant attributes to determine house prices and to acknowledge the best machine learning model to be used to conduct a study in this field.

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Teachers’ Use of Technology and Constructivism

By Abbas Pourhosein Gilakjani Lai-Mei Leong Hairul Nizam Ismail

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2013.04.07, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2013

Technology has changed the way we teach and the way we learn. Many learning theories can be used to apply and integrate this technology more effectively. There is a close relationship between technology and constructivism, the implementation of each one benefiting the other. Constructivism states that learning takes place in contexts, while technology refers to the designs and environments that engage learners. Recent efforts to integrate technology in the classroom have been within the context of a constructivist framework. The purpose of this paper is to examine the definition of constructivism, incorporating technology into the classroom, successful technology integration into the classroom, factors contributing to teachers’ use of technology, role of technology in a constructivist classroom, teacher’s use of learning theories to enable more effective use of technology, learning with technology: constructivist perspective, and constructivism as a framework for educational technology. This paper explains whether technology by itself can make the education process more effective or if technology needs an appropriate instructional theory to indicate its positive effect on the learner.

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OCR for Printed Bangla Characters Using Neural Network

By Asif Isthiaq Najoa Asreen Saif

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2020.02.03, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2020

Optical Character recognition is a buzzword in the field of computing. Artificial neural networks are being used to recognize characters for a long time. ANN has the ability to learn and model non-linear and complex relationships, which is really important because in real life, many of the relationships between inputs and outputs are non-linear as well as complex. Research in the field of OCR with Bangla language is not as vast as the English language. So, there is a scope of research in this area. It can be used to search and scan hundreds of Bangla documents within seconds and can easily manipulate the data. It is developed for various purpose like for vision impaired person where OCR software can help turn books, magazines and other printed documents into accessible files that they can listen. The limitation of traditional OCR are sufficient dataset is not available, all different font of characters are not available and there are lots of complex and similar shape characters for which accuracy not good. In our research, we first tried to make a dataset large enough so that we can train our neural network as they require big data to train. We built our own dataset of 2,97,898 Bangla single character images of different fonts . Then for implementing neural network we used Scikit-learn’s multi-layer perceptron classifier and we also implemented our own multi-layer feed forward back propagation neural network using a machine learning framework named Tensorflow. We have also built a GUI application to demonstrate the recognition of Bangla single character images.

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Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Motivation and Intention of University Students in Hanoi, Vietnam

By Do Thi Minh Hue Tran Phuong Thao Pham Canh Toan Hoang Dinh Luong Phan Thi Hao Do Thi Huyen Nguyen Thi Hoa

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2022.02.01, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2022

Entrepreneurship is the key driver of economic progress in many countries; thus, many countries have introduced policies to promote a more entrepreneurial environment. This study assesses the impact of factors affecting entrepreneurial intention of university students. The data was collected through a survey of 341 students at 09 leading universities in Hanoi, Vietnam and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS and Amos software. The research results show that entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial environment and subjective norms either directly or indirectly affect business motivation and entrepreneurial intention of university students. Thus, it is suggested that university and other educational institutions should provide more activities and taught courses that help students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for entrepreneurship.

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A Systematic Review of 3D Metaphoric Information Visualization

By A.S.K. Wijayawardena Ruvan Abeysekera M.W.P Maduranga

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.01.06, Pub. Date: 8 Feb. 2023

Today, large volumes of complex data are collected in many application domains such as health, finance and business. However, using traditional data visualization techniques, it is challenging to visualize abstract information to gain valuable insights into complex multidimensional datasets. One major challenge is the higher cognitive load in interpreting information. In this context, 3D metaphor-based information visualization has become a key research area in helping to gain useful insight into abstract data. Therefore, it has become critical to investigate the evolution of 3D metaphors with HCI techniques to minimize the cognitive load on the human brain. However, there are only a few recent reviews can be found for 3D metaphor-based data visualization. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive review of multidimensional data visualization by investigating the evolution of 3D metaphoric data visualization and interaction techniques to minimize the cognitive load on the human brain. Complying with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines this paper performs a systematic review of 3D metaphor-based data visualizations. This paper contributes to advancing the present state of knowledge in 3D metaphoric data visualization by critically analyzing the evolution of interactive 3D metaphors for information visualization. Further, this review identifies six main 3D metaphor categories and ten cognitive load minimizing techniques used in modern data visualization. In addition, this paper contributes three taxonomies by synthesizing the literature with a critical review of the strengths and weaknesses of metaphors. Finally, the paper discusses potential exploration paths for future research improvements.

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Extended Reality Model for Accessibility in Learning for Deaf and Hearing Students (Programming Logic Case)

By Martha Segura Ramiro Osorio Adriana Zavala

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.04.01, Pub. Date: 8 Aug. 2023

A group of researchers and developers from Colombia and Mexico have recognised that the development of state-of-the-art Extended Reality software, a key technology for the Metaverse, has great potential to improve teaching-learning processes in educational institutions. However, the development process does not take into account accessibility, universal design and inclusion, especially for the deaf student community. An extended reality model is proposed for the creation of this type of software as a tool to support access to knowledge, based on information gathering, requirements analysis, user-centred design and video game programming, including the ludic and didactic. The aim is to minimise the barriers that limit the learning of programming logic by students with hearing disabilities through the use of new technologies, creating spaces in virtual worlds that are understandable, usable and practical in conditions of safety, comfort and as much autonomy as possible. To validate the model, a mixed reality software prototype was designed and programmed to train students in programming logic, both deaf and hearing. User and heuristic tests were carried out, showing how immersion can improve knowledge acquisition processes and develop skills in higher education students.

[...] Read more.
Project-Based Learning with Gallery Walk: The Association with the Learning Motivation and Achievement

By Zamree Che-aron Wannisa Matcha

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.05.01, Pub. Date: 8 Oct. 2023

With the rapid and constant changes in computer and information technology, the content and learning methods in Computer Science related courses need to be continuously adapted and consistently aligned with the latest developments in the field. This paper proposes a learning approach called the Gallery-walk integrated Project-Based Learning (G-PBL) which can develop students’ lifelong learning skills that are extremely crucial for Computer Science students. The G-PBL was designed by incorporating the advantages of Project-Based Learning (PBL) and gallery walk learning strategy. In contrast to traditional PBL where students may present their project work to instructors only, students have to present their project work to their classmates as part of the G-PBL approach. All students are required to evaluate their peers’ project work and then give feedback and suggestions. For the research experiments, the G-PBL was implemented as an instructional approach in two Computer Science related courses. This study focuses on exploring the differences in knowledge gain, learning motivation, and perceived usefulness when learning by using the teacher-centered and G-PBL approach. Moreover, the impact of gender differences on learning outcomes is also investigated. The results reveal that using the G-PBL approach helps students to gain more knowledge significantly, for both male and female students. In terms of motivation, female students are more favorable toward the G-PBL approach. On the contrary, male students prefer learning via a teacher-centered approach. Regarding the perceived usefulness, female students strongly view the G-PBL as a highly effective learning approach, whereas male students are more prone to concur that the teacher-centered approach is a more effective learning method.

[...] Read more.
Predicting College Students’ Placements Based on Academic Performance Using Machine Learning Approaches

By Mukesh Kumar Nidhi Walia Sushil Bansal Girish Kumar Korhan Cengiz

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.06.01, Pub. Date: 8 Dec. 2023

Predicting College placements based on academic performance is critical to supporting educational institutions and students in making informed decisions about future career paths. The present research investigates the use of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to predict college students' placements using academic performance data. The study makes use of a dataset that includes a variety of academic markers, such as grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, obtained from a varied sample of college students. To create predictive models, the study analyses numerous ML algorithms, including Logistic Regression, Gaussian Naive Bayes, Random Forest, Support Vector Machine, and K-Nearest Neighbour. The predictive models are evaluated using performance criteria such as accuracy, precision, recall, and F1-score. The most effective machine learning method for forecasting students' placements based on academic achievement is identified through a comparative study. The findings show that Random Forest approaches have the potential to effectively forecast college student placements. The findings show that academic factors such as grades and test scores have a considerable impact on prediction accuracy. The findings of this study could be beneficial to educational institutions, students, and career counsellors.

[...] Read more.
Analysis of Student’s Academic Performance based on their Time Spent on Extra-Curricular Activities using Machine Learning Techniques

By Neeta Sharma Shanmuganathan Appukutti Umang Garg Jayati Mukherjee Sneha Mishra

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.01.04, Pub. Date: 8 Feb. 2023

The foundational tenet of any nation's prosperity, character, and progress is education. Thus, a lot of emphasis is laid on quality of education and education delivery system in India with current financial year (2022-23) education budget outlay of Rs. 1,04,277.72 crores. This research contributes in analyzing how students perform in academics depending upon the time spent on their extracurricular activities with the help of three Machine Learning prediction algorithms namely Decision Tree, Random Forest and KNN. Additionally, in order to comprehend the underlying causes of the shortcomings in each machine learning technique, comparisons of the prediction outcomes obtained by these various techniques are made. On our dataset, the Decision Tree outscored all other algorithms, achieving F1 84 and an accuracy of 85%. The research, which is at an introductory level, is meant to open the door for more complexes, specialised, and in-depth studies in the area of predicting the performance in academics.

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Optimised MLP Neural Network Model for Optimum Prognostic Learning of out of School Children Trend in Africa: Implication for Guidance and Counselling

By Edith Edimo Joseph Joseph Isabona Odaro Osayande Ikechi Irisi

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.01.01, Pub. Date: 8 Feb. 2023

One crucial and intricate problem in the education sector that must be dealt with is children who initially enrolled in schools but later dropped out before finishing mandatory primary education. These children are generally referred to as out-of-school children. To contribute to the discuss, this paper presents the development of a robust Multilayer Perceptron (MLP) based Neural Network Model (NN) for optimal prognostic learning of out-of-school children trends in Africa. First, the Bayesian optimization algorithm has been engaged to determine the best MLP hyperparameters and their specific training values. Secondly, MLP-tuned hyperparameters were employed for optimal prognostic learning of different out-of-school children data trends in Africa. Thirdly, to assess the proposed MLP-NN model's prognostic performance, two error metrics were utilized, which are the Correlation coefficient (R) and Normalized root means square error (NRMSE). Among other things, a higher R and lower NRMSE values indicate a better MLP-NN precision performance. The all-inclusive results of the developed MLP-NN model indicate a satisfactory prediction capacity, attaining low NRMSE values between 0.017 - 0.310 during training and 0.034 - 0.233 during testing, respectively. In terms of correlation fits, the out-of-school children's data and the ones obtained with the developed MLP-NN model recorded high correlation precision training/testing performance values of 0.9968/0.9974, 0.9801/0.9373, 0.9977/0.9948 and 0.9957/0.9970, respectively. Thus, the MLP-NN model has made it possible to reliably predict the different patterns and trends rate of out-of-school children in Africa. One of the implications for counselling, among others, is that if every African government is seriously committed to funding education at the foundation level, there would be a reduction in the number of out-of-school children as observed in the out-of-school children data.

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Comparison of Simple Additive Weighting Method and Weighted Performance Indicator Method for Lecturer Performance Assessment

By Terttiaavini Yusuf Hartono Ermatita Dian Palupi Rini

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.02.01, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2023

The development of methods for assessing lecturers' performance is needed to motivate lecturers to achieve institutional targets. Currently, lecturers are required to be able to adapt to the rapid development of technology. Lecturer performance assessment must be done periodically. Competence is measured as a basis for planning resource development activities. The method that is often used for assessing lecturer performance is the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method. However, the SAW method has drawbacks, namely 1) the process of determining criteria is only carried out by the leadership (subjective); 2) The SAW method can only be applied to multi-criteria data ; 3) Data ranking problems. Based on this deficiency, a new method was built, namely, the Weighted Performance Indicator (WPI) method using respondents’ opinion to determine the criteria. This study aims to compare the performance of the two methods. Testing criteria using SPPS application dan WPI method, while testing methods utilized the SAW method and the WPI method. The results of the criterion test show the Percentage of Similarity of data validity = 96.7 % witht the minimum percentage limit (MPL) = 40%. While the results of the SAW method and WPI method testing resulted in the highest score in the 13th alternative, namely SAW score (v13) = 793.76 and WP score (WP13) = 0.928, and the lowest value in the 30th alternative, SAW score (v30) = 18.60 and WP score (WP30) = 0.140. the ranking positions in these two methods show similarities. However, for other alternatives, the rating value can be different. 
The WPI method is a scientific development in the field of decision support systems that can be applied to other performance assessments, such other human resources, system performance assesment etc. 
The results of this study prove that the WPI method can be used as a performance assessment method with different characteristics from the SAW method.

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A Systematic Review of 3D Metaphoric Information Visualization

By A.S.K. Wijayawardena Ruvan Abeysekera M.W.P Maduranga

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.01.06, Pub. Date: 8 Feb. 2023

Today, large volumes of complex data are collected in many application domains such as health, finance and business. However, using traditional data visualization techniques, it is challenging to visualize abstract information to gain valuable insights into complex multidimensional datasets. One major challenge is the higher cognitive load in interpreting information. In this context, 3D metaphor-based information visualization has become a key research area in helping to gain useful insight into abstract data. Therefore, it has become critical to investigate the evolution of 3D metaphors with HCI techniques to minimize the cognitive load on the human brain. However, there are only a few recent reviews can be found for 3D metaphor-based data visualization. Therefore, this paper provides a comprehensive review of multidimensional data visualization by investigating the evolution of 3D metaphoric data visualization and interaction techniques to minimize the cognitive load on the human brain. Complying with PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines this paper performs a systematic review of 3D metaphor-based data visualizations. This paper contributes to advancing the present state of knowledge in 3D metaphoric data visualization by critically analyzing the evolution of interactive 3D metaphors for information visualization. Further, this review identifies six main 3D metaphor categories and ten cognitive load minimizing techniques used in modern data visualization. In addition, this paper contributes three taxonomies by synthesizing the literature with a critical review of the strengths and weaknesses of metaphors. Finally, the paper discusses potential exploration paths for future research improvements.

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House Price Prediction using a Machine Learning Model: A Survey of Literature

By Nor Hamizah Zulkifley Shuzlina Abdul Rahman Nor Hasbiah Ubaidullah Ismail Ibrahim

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2020.06.04, Pub. Date: 8 Dec. 2020

Data mining is now commonly applied in the real estate market. Data mining's ability to extract relevant knowledge from raw data makes it very useful to predict house prices, key housing attributes, and many more. Research has stated that the fluctuations in house prices are often a concern for house owners and the real estate market. A survey of literature is carried out to analyze the relevant attributes and the most efficient models to forecast the house prices. The findings of this analysis verified the use of the Artificial Neural Network, Support Vector Regression and XGBoost as the most efficient models compared to others. Moreover, our findings also suggest that locational attributes and structural attributes are prominent factors in predicting house prices. This study will be of tremendous benefit, especially to housing developers and researchers, to ascertain the most significant attributes to determine house prices and to acknowledge the best machine learning model to be used to conduct a study in this field.

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Adoption of Blended Learning in Ghanaian Senior High Schools: A Case Study in a Less Endowed School

By Ebenezer Eghan Najim Ussiph ObedAppiah

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.05.06, Pub. Date: 8 Oct. 2023

During COVID-19 pandemic, most tertiary institutions in Ghana were compelled to continue delivering of lectures online using internet technologies as was in the case of other countries. Senior high schools in Ghana were, however, not asked to do same, currently, the setting of most literature on blended or online learning in Ghana is focused on tertiary education. This paper situates the blended learning model in a less endowed senior high school to unearth the prospect of its implementation. The research provides an alternative to the traditional face-to-face learning, which is faced with the challenge of inadequate infrastructure, high number of students to class ratio, less compatibility with 21st learning skills and long-life learning in Ghana.
A customed Moodle application as web application tool, hosted students online in both synchronous and asynchronous interactions. Purposive quota sampling size technique was used to select an appreciable sample size to fully go through the traditional face-face model for a term and then study through the blended learning model for another term. Students’ examination performances for both were analyzed with a paired t test statistical model. Interviews with participants were conducted to ascertain their evaluation of the blended learning model and questionnaires were also administered to discover the institutional, technological, and human resource readiness for blended learning in senior high schools. The analysis of the data gathered, proved that blended learning in senior high schools has high prospect and is better alternative to face-to-face learning in Ghana.

 

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Factors Affecting Entrepreneurial Motivation and Intention of University Students in Hanoi, Vietnam

By Do Thi Minh Hue Tran Phuong Thao Pham Canh Toan Hoang Dinh Luong Phan Thi Hao Do Thi Huyen Nguyen Thi Hoa

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2022.02.01, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2022

Entrepreneurship is the key driver of economic progress in many countries; thus, many countries have introduced policies to promote a more entrepreneurial environment. This study assesses the impact of factors affecting entrepreneurial intention of university students. The data was collected through a survey of 341 students at 09 leading universities in Hanoi, Vietnam and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with SPSS and Amos software. The research results show that entrepreneurial skills, entrepreneurial environment and subjective norms either directly or indirectly affect business motivation and entrepreneurial intention of university students. Thus, it is suggested that university and other educational institutions should provide more activities and taught courses that help students acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for entrepreneurship.

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An Empirical Research on the Effectiveness online and Offline Classes of English Language Learning based on Student’s Perception in Telangana Schools

By K. Kashinath R. L. N. Raju

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2023.02.04, Pub. Date: 8 Apr. 2023

Learning practices commenced to shift from face-to-face offline class learning to online classes with technological networks specifically on sudden COVID-19 crises. . This sort of variation in their learning method sparks question about students' perception of the new learning system. The objective of the study was to compare English language learning, between online classes and Offline-classes and it explicates different students' perceptions of such learning practices regarding the benefits, improvements, and drawbacks of online and offline modes. The research approach of study, proceeds with a quantitative study, using statistical analysis through questionnaire distribution. The participants of the study were the school students, obtained from Government and private schools in Telangana. The quality of the study stands outstanding in addressing the effectiveness of blended learning both online and offline learning and aids to study nature of the approach if integration of learning modes including face-to face and online learning incorporated and the consideration to improvise qualities learning experiences of students. With those aspects, the research is significant to prove the preference of students to elucidate that offline classroom learning is more preferable than online English learning. The value of the research is recognised that it aids the educators, leadership authorities and researchers to understand parameters leading to efficient learning practices, enhanced collaborative student performance outcomes assisting to select the appropriate technologies in case of any pandemic crisis and to inhibit collaborative learning in and out of classroom.  The most general obstacles faced by students in online English learning are materials insufficiency, lack of communicative skills training, lacking reading activities participation, absence of interaction, the inability of queries or doubts clarification, and exercise exposure are addressed by the analysis outcomes. The comparative perception outcomes explicated that Offline English language learning stands out as more efficient than the online learning method. 

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