Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Grading'

Declining scholarly writing abilities are well-documented among college students and are of particular concern in schools of nursing whose graduates are groomed to become leaders in the nation’s healthcare system. Reasons for students’ poor writing are multifactorial; however, faculty’s inability to correctly identify errors and wide variability in grading practices have been identified as major components. A doctoral translating evidence into nursing practice project was designed to study the effectiveness of a faculty-focused writing course on (1) improving identification of errors, (2) reducing inaccurate feedback, and (3) reducing grading variability. This descriptive, crosssectional, interventional study was implemented at a private liberal arts university in the Midwest. Results were measured by having participants grade the same fictitious student paper containing 41 grammatical, punctuation, capitalization, and APA formatting errors pre and post the interventional course. Sixty-seven participants completed the four-week online writing course, and 43 participants completed the study with fully evaluable data. The writing course significantly increased the number of errors identified and decreased the number of inaccurate comments on the fictitious paper; however, overall grading variability remained unchanged. The study identified characteristics of faculty most proficient in grading practices and ways to potentially improve faculty writing and grading abilities. The creation of a guide to assist students in writing and faculty with grading APA formatted papers was an incidental outcome of the study.

The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of a standards-based grading system has an effect on classroom instruction. In particular, how does the implementation of a standards-based grading system impact the teaching methods, curriculum, differentiation, and formative assessments being used in classrooms? The researcher identified five schools in the Southern Illinois area that have adopted the standards-based grading system and chose eleven teachers to participate in this study through purposeful convenience sampling. This study used a phenomenological qualitative approach. There were two methods used in order to collect data including face to face interviews and document analysis. The findings of this study are significant to any district who is considering changing their grading system from a traditional grading system to a standards-based grading system. Through six major themes that emerged, this study shows that by switching to a standards-based grading system multiple parts of the classroom are impacted including the teaching methods, content, differentiation, and formative assessments. The six major themes included: teaching methods have been modified to better adjust to the standards-based grading system and include a larger variety of approaches, teaching methods are more of a response to student need than a pre-planned approach to teaching, the curriculum and content being taught in the classroom have better alignment to the standards, teachers have a greater awareness of both the curriculum and standards that are being taught at their grade level, as well as at other grade level, teachers have a better understanding of the individual needs of students and have used differentiation to meet these unique needs, and the use of formative assessments have increased in order to adjust for more fluid groupings being used in the classroom.

High labour costs, due to the existing technology that still involves a high degree of manually based processing, incur overall high production costs in the fish processing industry. Therefore, a higher degree of automation of processing lines is often desirable, and this strategy has been adopted by the Norwegian fish processing industry to cut-down production costs. In fish processing, despite a slower uptake than in other domains of industry, the use of computer vision as a strategy for automation is beginning to gain the necessary maturity for online grading and evaluation of various attributes related to fish quality. This can enable lower production costs and simultaneously increase quality through more consistent and non-destructive evaluation of the fish products.

This thesis investigates the possibility for automation of fish processing operations by the application of computer vision. The thesis summarises research conducted towards the development of computer vision-based methods for evaluation of various attributes related to whole fish and flesh quality. A brief summary of the main findings is presented here.

By application of computer vision, a method for the inspection of the presence of residual blood in the body cavity of whole Atlantic salmon was developed to determine the adequacy of washing. Inadequate washing of fish after bleeding is quite common in commercial processing plants. By segmenting the body cavity and performing a colour analysis, it was shown that the degree of bleeding correlated well with colour parameters, resulting in correct classification of the fish with residual blood. The developed computer vision-based classifier showed a good agreement with the manual classification of the fish that needed re-washing. The proposed method has potential to automate this type of inspection in fish processing lines.

In addition, a computer vision-based classifier for quality grading of whole Atlantic salmon in different grading classes, as specified by the industrial standard, was developed. In the proposed solution, after segmentation of the salmon from the image scene, with the use of the computer vision techniques, it was possible to extract non-redundant geometrical features describing the size and shape of fish. Based on these features, a classifier was developed for classification of fish into respective grading classes. The average correct rate of classification was in good agreement with the manual labelling, and the method has a potential for grading of Atlantic salmon in fish processing lines.

Regarding fillet grading, a computer vision-based sorting method for Atlantic salmon fillets according to their colour score was developed. The method and classifier/matching algorithm was based on the present industrial standard NS 9402 for evaluation of fillets by colour according to Roche Cards. As a result, fillets or parts of fillets, could be classified into different colour grades. This is important for the industry since different markets tend to have different preferences for fillet colour. This classification method is suitable for online industrial purposes. In addition, the method gives colour evaluation of fresh and smoked fillets in the CIELab space, similar to the L, a, and b values generated by a Minolta Chromameter, for different parts of fillets as well as for the entire fillet. The advantage of the computer vision-based method derives from the flexibility in the choice of the size of the region of interest of the fillet for colour measurement, as opposed to the Chromameter, where the Minolta generated values are obtained by interrogating a very small area of the fillet (8 mm). The method can also be used for detection of colour non-uniformities (discoloration) in both fresh and smoked fillets.

A method for computer vision-based measurements and monitoring of transient 2D and 3D changes in the size and shape of fillets during the rigor process and ice storage was developed. The method successfully measured the size (length, width, area) and shape (roundness) of Atlantic salmon and cod fillets, and monitored changes to these during ice storage with high precision. This was demonstrated by comparison of the exhausted and anesthetized fillets. By laser scanning of the fillet, it was possible to obtain size changes in the height (mm) and area of the fillet in cross-section. The method can be used not only for size and shape analysis of fillets but also for other fish products, both in on-line, as well as off-line conditions as a tool for monitoring 2D/3D size and shape changes. The method can also be used for determination of fillet yield measured in thickness, which is an important parameter for the industry. Together with the colour grading ability, this method can also be used for full feature evaluation and classification of any fish or food product from a single image (colour, size and shape in 2D/3D).

If filleting of fish is done pre-rigor, care should be exercised during colour grading since transient colour changes occur in the post-mortem period. As these changes are more pronounced than those that occur during ice storage, incorrect colour grading can occur. The computer vision method developed for evaluation of colour changes in fillets during rigor, ice storage, and due to effects of perimortem handling stress was considered as the most suitable method for industrial purposes when compared to both the Minolta Chromamater and sensory analysis by a panel.

A computer vision-based method for evaluation of fresh and smoked fillets with respect to bleeding was developed. This form of evaluation is important for the industry as residual blood in fillets may lead to reduced visual acceptance of the product. The method was considered suitable for the purpose of this type of evaluation.

The developed computer vision methods have potential for automation of the mentioned grading operations in the commercial fish processing lines. Application of the proposed solutions would lower the production costs, while simultaneously increasing the quality of the products through a more consistent and non-destructive evaluation of these products.

Color has been significant in visual arts for as long as the art-forms have existed. Still images and movies have long used colors and color grading effects to affect the viewer and characterize the work. In recent years attempts have been made to bring these techniques of stylizing also to interactive games. This dissertation aims to compare two different approaches of performing real-time color grading for games. Focus is put on examining the two ways from a number of different perspectives and from there draw conclusions on advantages and disadvantages of the approaches. The results show no unanimously superior approach but rather aim to break down the results in categories and attempt to explain the benefits and drawbacks in using either one of them, aiding the decision for anyone inclined to implement color grading effects in games.