PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Students' online and offline social networks can predict course grades -- Ben-Gurion U. researchers

2012-12-28
(Press-News.org) BEER-SHEVA, Israel, December 27, 2012 -- Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's (BGU) Social Networks Security Research Group in its Department of Information Systems Engineering has developed a novel method to predict how well or badly a student will perform in an academic course.

The information can be used to determine which students need the most help, as well as which ones excel and might be guided to further study or careers in that subject area. The paper, "Predicting Student Exam Scores by Analyzing Social Network Data," was presented earlier this month at the Advanced Media Technology Conference in Macau, Hong Kong.

According to co-author and Ph.D. student Michael Fire, "While most papers about social network analysis deal solely with information gathered online, this study draws some of the information used for the generation of the network from the real world -- social interactions which were conducted off the grid."

The researchers analyzed data from a BGU course that included assignments submitted online and Web site logs (containing 10,759 entries) to construct social networks of explicit and implicit cooperation among the students. The implicit connections are used to model all the social interactions that happened "offline" among the students: e-mails with questions, conversations in the lab while preparing the assignments and even course forums.

"These connections were very important, as we sought to model the social interactions within the student body," Fire explains.

In addition to analyzing the online submissions of the students who had to work in pairs or in groups, they also tracked login time and computer usage. For instance, if two students submitted their assignments from the same computer, it was a likely indication that the two had worked together to complete the assignment. If two students submitted assignments from different computers, but one right after the other on more than one occasion, the authors gave a value to that data, as well.

"One explanation for what we discovered is that your friends influence your grade in the course, so, if you pick your friends well, then you will get a higher grade," Fire says. "Alternatively, social networks in courses offer conditions whereby good students will pair with other good students and similarly weaker ones will pair with other weaker students." he continued.

###

American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (AABGU) plays a vital role in sustaining David Ben-Gurion's vision, creating a world-class institution of education and research in the Israeli desert, nurturing the Negev community and sharing the University's expertise locally and around the globe. With some 20,000 students on campuses in Beer-Sheva, Sede Boqer and Eilat in Israel's southern desert, BGU is a university with a conscience, where the highest academic standards are integrated with community involvement, committed to sustainable development of the Negev. AABGU is headquartered in Manhattan and has nine regional offices throughout the U.S. For more information, please visit www.aabgu.org.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A model-free way to characterize polymodal ion channel gating

A model-free way to characterize polymodal ion channel gating
2012-12-28
Two studies in The Journal of General Physiology (JGP) help pave the way for a "shortcut" model-free approach to studying activation of "polymodal" ion channels—channels that open in response to multiple stimuli. Transmembrane ion channels respond to various physiological stimuli to regulate numerous cellular functions. Different classes of channels respond to different types of stimuli; some channels, for instance, respond to changes in membrane potential whereas others are activated by ligand binding. Polymodal channels integrate different cellular signals, enabling them ...

Slice, stack, and roll: A new way to build collagen scaffolds

Slice, stack, and roll: A new way to build collagen scaffolds
2012-12-28
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (December, 26 2012) – Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have developed a novel method for fabricating collagen structures that maintains the collagen's natural strength and fiber structure, making it useful for a number of biomedical applications. Collagen, the most abundant protein in the body, is widely used to build scaffolds for tissue engineering because it is biocompatible and biodegradable. Collagen is, however, hard to work with in its natural form because it is largely insoluble in water, and common processing techniques ...

GSA Bulletin celebrates GSA's 125th Anniversary with new geologic time scale

2012-12-28
Boulder, Colo., USA – GSA BULLETIN articles posted online between 10 Dec. and 21 Dec. 2012 include a new version of The Geological Society of America's Geologic Time Scale. This paper marks the beginning of a special series of invited papers in celebration of GSA's 125th Anniversary in 2013. Highlights are provided below. 1. A new/revised GSA geologic time scale. 2. Complex mammal fossil record of the Gran Barranca, Patagonia, Argentina. 3. A new and simple method for estimating the rate of sediment delivery to ancient basins. 4. A study of the provenance of volcanic ...

Monkey see, monkey do: Visual feedback is necessary for imitating facial expressions

2012-12-28
Research using new technology shows that our ability to imitate facial expressions depends on learning that occurs through visual feedback. Studies of the chameleon effect confirm what salespeople, tricksters, and Lotharios have long known: Imitating another person's postures and expressions is an important social lubricant. But how do we learn to imitate with any accuracy when we can't see our own facial expressions and we can't feel the facial expressions of others? Richard Cook of City University London, Alan Johnston of University College London, and Cecilia Heyes ...

Strange behavior: New study exposes living cells to synthetic protein

Strange behavior: New study exposes living cells to synthetic protein
2012-12-28
One approach to understanding components in living organisms is to attempt to create them artificially, using principles of chemistry, engineering and genetics. A suite of powerful techniques—collectively referred to as synthetic biology—have been used to produce self-replicating molecules, artificial pathways in living systems and organisms bearing synthetic genomes. In a new twist, John Chaput, a researcher at Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute and colleagues at the Department of Pharmacology, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ have fabricated an artificial ...

Penn team developing new class of malaria drugs using essential calcium enzyme

Penn team developing new class of malaria drugs using essential calcium enzyme
2012-12-28
PHILADELPHIA - Calpain, a calcium-regulated enzyme, is essential to a host of cellular processes, but can cause severe problems in its overactivated state. It has been implicated as a factor in muscular dystrophy, AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancer. As such, finding and exploiting calpain inhibitors is an important area of research. A team from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with the University of California at San Francisco and the Department of Biochemistry and Protein Function Discovery at Queen's ...

Vanderbilt study examines Affordable Care Act's impact on uncompensated care

2012-12-28
Nashville (Tenn.) - The decision by several states not to expand Medicaid health insurance for the poor may create unintended cuts for hospitals that provide uncompensated care, according to a study by John Graves, Ph.D., a Vanderbilt policy expert in the Department of Preventive Medicine. Graves used financial data from U.S. hospitals and insurance data in each state to predict cuts in Medicare and Medicaid disproportionate share (DSH) funds paid to the nearly three-fourths of U.S. hospitals that serve low-income patients. The results, published in the Dec. 20 issue ...

Penn team mimicking a natural defense against malaria to develop new treatments

Penn team mimicking a natural defense against malaria to develop new treatments
2012-12-28
PHILADELPHIA - One of the world's most devastating diseases is malaria, responsible for at least a million deaths annually, despite global efforts to combat it. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, working with collaborators from Drexel University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins University, have identified a protein in human blood platelets that points to a powerful new weapon against the disease. Their work was published in this months' issue of Cell Host and Microbe. Malaria is caused by parasitic ...

2 new species of orchid found in Cuba

2 new species of orchid found in Cuba
2012-12-28
Researchers from the University of Vigo, in collaboration with the Environmental Services Unit at the Alejandro de Humboldt National Park (Cuba), have discovered two new species of Caribbean orchid. The Caribbean islands have been natural laboratories and a source of inspiration for biologists for over two centuries now. Suffice to say that the studies by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the tropical archipelagos contributed to the emergence of the theory of evolution. In this case, a Spanish research team from the University of Vigo has discovered two new ...

Broader background checks and denial criteria could help prevent mass shooting catastrophes

2012-12-28
UC Davis Health System is improving lives and transforming health care by providing excellent patient care, conducting groundbreaking research, fostering innovative, interprofessional education, and creating dynamic, productive partnerships with the community. The academic health system includes one of the country's best medical schools, a 619-bed acute-care teaching hospital, a 1000-member physician's practice group and the new Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing. It is home to a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, an international neurodevelopmental ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Are lifetimes of big appliances really shrinking?

Pink skies

Monkeys are world’s best yodellers - new research

Key differences between visual- and memory-led Alzheimer’s discovered

% weight loss targets in obesity management – is this the wrong objective?

An app can change how you see yourself at work

NYC speed cameras take six months to change driver behavior, effects vary by neighborhood, new study reveals

New research shows that propaganda is on the rise in China

Even the richest Americans face shorter lifespans than their European counterparts, study finds

Novel genes linked to rare childhood diarrhea

New computer model reveals how Bronze Age Scandinavians could have crossed the sea

Novel point-of-care technology delivers accurate HIV results in minutes

Researchers reveal key brain differences to explain why Ritalin helps improve focus in some more than others

Study finds nearly five-fold increase in hospitalizations for common cause of stroke

Study reveals how alcohol abuse damages cognition

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life

Microplastics detected in cat placentas and fetuses during early pregnancy

Ancient amphibians as big as alligators died in mass mortality event in Triassic Wyoming

Scientists uncover the first clear evidence of air sacs in the fossilized bones of alvarezsaurian dinosaurs: the "hollow bones" which help modern day birds to fly

Alcohol makes male flies sexy

TB patients globally often incur "catastrophic costs" of up to $11,329 USD, despite many countries offering free treatment, with predominant drivers of cost being hospitalization and loss of income

Study links teen girls’ screen time to sleep disruptions and depression

Scientists unveil starfish-inspired wearable tech for heart monitoring

Footprints reveal prehistoric Scottish lagoons were stomping grounds for giant Jurassic dinosaurs

AI effectively predicts dementia risk in American Indian/Alaska Native elders

First guideline on newborn screening for cystic fibrosis calls for changes in practice to improve outcomes

Existing international law can help secure peace and security in outer space, study shows

Pinning down the process of West Nile virus transmission

UTA-backed research tackles health challenges across ages

In pancreatic cancer, a race against time

[Press-News.org] Students' online and offline social networks can predict course grades -- Ben-Gurion U. researchers