With the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, videoconferencing was rapidly adopted. However, individuals frequently decide to keep their cameras off during videoconferences. Currently, the reasons ...for this are not well modeled, and neither are the social effects this decision has. The present research addresses the question whether camera use can be conceptualized as prosocial behavior. To this end, two preregistered studies (total N = 437) examined how the decision to turn on one’s camera is influenced by established situational determinants (group size, social influence, and social tie strength) and dispositional predictors of prosocial behavior (individual communion, agency, and social value orientation), whether individuals prefer meetings in which others turn on their cameras, and whether camera use impacts social perception (communion and agency) by others. As predicted, people were shown to overall prefer meetings in which others turn on their cameras in Study 1 (a factorial survey). Furthermore, situational determinants of prosocial behavior were demonstrated to influence camera use in the hypothesized directions, while findings regarding dispositional predictors of prosocial behavior were mixed. Study 2 conceptually replicated the effect of social influence on camera use in a correlational survey. As predicted, it was also demonstrated that individuals who have their camera on are perceived as higher in agency, but, in contrast to predictions, not higher in communion. Together, the findings indicate that camera use is prosocial in that it benefits others, but that it is not primarily driven by prosocial intent or commonly interpreted as a prosocial act.
Hybrid classrooms (taught simultaneously to both in-person and online students) have become increasingly common in the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and they have ...offered multiple benefits and challenges. We offer several recommendations to improve student engagement and classroom experience in such classrooms, especially for online learners who may face greater barriers to participation. These recommendations were constructed based on survey responses from students in a microbiology classroom who were categorized as in-person or online learners depending on their chosen modalities. Briefly, increasing familiarity, encouraging but not mandating camera use in online small groups, tailoring active learning activities for the online population, and enabling access to lecture recordings and transcripts were identified as strategies that would promote student engagement and improve student outcomes. As online learning will likely play an important role in higher education in the future, educators will need to continue to rethink and adapt some familiar classroom strategies to resonate with a virtual audience. In any case, lessons learned in a hybrid course can be applied to a range of teaching modalities, to provide students with a more engaging and supportive learning environment.
In synchronous learning, participants interact by viewing each other directly. Deactivation of the video camera and low student involvement can be interpreted variously, including learning ...seriousness or lack of it, physical presence in the virtual classroom, etc. We studied the connection between video camera use, class involvement and student achievement in a one semester psychometry class. We monitored camera use and class involvement and captured final grades, supplemented with an open-ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. A combination of turning a camera on and active participation in the class affected the student grade more strongly (p = 0.88) than class involvement (p = 0.12). Bayes factors showed that a model, enhanced by both activated cameras and student involvement, was 7.14 times more likely to affect grade. Bayes linear regression predicted class participation increased the grade by 3.2 points per meeting, whereas turning the camera on increased it by only 0.9 points per meeting. However, both involvement and turning the camera on were predictors of student achievement. Questionnaire responses showed reasons not turning a camera on included unready to learn (44%), unstable internet connection and limited quota (37%), psychological reasons (11%), devices overheating (4%) and following others (4%). On the other hand, students always turned the camera on because of communication support (49%), evidence of seriousness (25%) and attendance (16%), following others (1%), good internet connection (1%), and respect for the instructors (8%). The students who activated their camera felt supervised and it forced them to study seriously and maintain concentration during class.
The problem of stabilizing the time delayed control of a flexible space structure is analyzed in this paper. A free floating platform is used to investigate the space multibody dynamics and control. ...A first necessary step to develop stabilizing techniques is considered the availability of a set of measurements as complete as possible: in particular measurements of the elastic vibrations are necessary in addition to classic attitude measurements. At the scope, a net of PZT sensors have been designed and manufactured on a composite material panel, purposely built to resemble a space structure. A combined use of the PZT/optical sensor is proposed, where the role of the camera is to estimate the PZT parameters that can be changed after the manufacturing or for environmental aging. When this calibration process is performed, PZT can be used as standalone sensors for measuring also the elastic displacement of the structure. Once these measurements of attitude and elastic displacement are obtained, two stabilizing techniques have been developed, the Finite Spectrum Analysis, already known in literature, and the newly developed High Fidelity Filter approach, based on the design of a Kalman filter with large confidence on the process dynamics. It is shown that both techniques manage to increase the delay margin of the system, thus obtaining a stable maneuver, but the second approach reach this goal with very low residual vibrations and a remarkable fuel saving.
•The problem of controlling a flexible spacecraft is faced.•A net of sensors including PZT patches and a camera is developed.•The performance of different algorithms for vibration reduction is analyzed.•The results suggest that the use of properly designed Kalman filters is a meaningful solution.•Experimental attitude maneuvers validate the conclusions.
In any vehicle motion, obstacle need to be read very carefully for detection; if detection is reliable and faithful, then and then only optimized solution to avoid it can be precisely decided. There ...are various approaches to read the obstacles. One of the initial approaches was by using ultrasonic sensors and laser range scanner and was adopted with acceptable accuracy. But as the camera applications geared up with their advances in types and sophistications, a pair of camera or stereo vision has geared up for this application. Previously, data received from the sensors were used after conditioning or pre-processing, consequently computational overhead to decide (perception variation) disparity. This disparity needs to be overcome in real time or with acceptable latency, so as to avoid collision with obstacle along the decided path. This paper gives one such approach and then discusses the methodologies used by the earlier researchers for detection using stereo vision. This will help them to deduce better approach further in this area.