International Institute of
A Hybrid Asynchronous-Synchronous Learning Network (HASLN) Flipped-Classroom Approach in Engineering Education
Latchman, Haniph *; Aiken, Paul **; Anderson, Stephan **; Bernard, Richard **; Gordon, Rene ** (* United States, ** Jamaica)
ABSTRACT:
This paper describes a technique in use at the Faculty of Engineering, UWI (Mona), to offer undergraduate engineering classes by combining collaborative Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) and synchronous group interactions, in a flipped classroom setting.
The ALN component involves access to online class materials such as recorded lectures, class notes, assigned and reference books and study guides so that students may watch lectures, write their own notes and consult supplemental materials as needed. A multimedia social network group including the instructors, instructional assistants and all students in the class then provides a forum to pose and answer questions and facilitate collaborative discussions of online material.
The ALN class lectures and group interaction are complemented by a Synchronous Learning Network (SLN), using face-to-face meetings where possible and optionally, as necessitated over the past year during the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, using synchronous video conferencing tools. This face-to-face or videoconference enabled SLN component essentially constitutes a ‘flipped-class room’ approach, where lectures are watched at home and homework and problems are done at school. In person or virtually by interactive videoconference, fully exploiting the collaborative benefits of real-time, teacher-student and student-student interactions. The synchronous ‘flipped-class room’ sessions are used for group discussions, collaborative problem solving as well as supervised student assessment purposes.
The flipped classroom sessions serve several important purposes in achieving key goals of effective teaching and learning. First, a moderated content specific question and answer discussion and by a mini-quiz with full access to personally authored lecture motivate and ensure diligence in student assimilation of the online class lectures. This sound foundation then empowers students to use the ALN lecture and supplemental material to successfully complete class assignments and projects in an interactive and collaborative setting. The in-person session also allows the for progressive and rigorous evaluation of learning via periodic tests based on personally completed class-assignments, comprehensive in-term examination(s) with no notes or textbook allowed, and a cumulative closed book, closed notes final examination based on the entire course material covered.
The paper also provides general observations on the overall teaching and learning effectiveness and student performance as well as preliminary anecdotal student feedback on the HASLN approach. Finally, we motivate the benefit of implementing the HASLN techniques in High School and pre-college education for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) classes.
A Systematic Literature Review Protocol for Evaluating the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) of EHR and PDS
Mwim, Emilia N.; Mbamalu, Oluchi N. (South Africa)
ABSTRACT:
The use of e-health applications has increased globally with advances in information and communications technology (ICT). These applications are effective for improved healthcare co-ordination and outcomes; however, contextual differences may exist in the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) across various economies given differences in available resources for e-health implementation. This protocol details the steps for evaluating SWOT elements as they relate to implementation of the e-health applications, electronic health records (EHR) and pharmacy dispensing system (PDS), across various economies.
Analysis of Cerebral Blood Flow Complexity When Listening Music with Emotional Content
Cavieres, Rubén; Landerretche, Jean; Jara, José Luis; Chacón, Max (Chile)
ABSTRACT:
Despite differences in ethnicities, culture, or language, music is a universal stimulus that can evoke intense feelings in people. Studying its effects, however, is challenging because of its emotional nature. This study analyzes the effects of listening different sound stimuli, such as music with emotional content, on cerebral hemodynamics. Cerebral blood flow signals were recorded for 16 subjects while performing five different music tasks. The complexity of each signal was estimated using multiscale Sample entropy. Significant differences in mean complexity was found between two tasks, which suggests that intense cognitive activities having emotional content yield a decrease in the complexity of cerebral hemodynamics.
Analyzing the Associations between Educational Background Factors and Problem-Solving in Technology-Rich Environments: An Investigation of United State Adult's Proficiency Level in PIAAC
Aljawfi, Omar; Pei, Tzusheng; Abu-El Humos, Ali (United States)
ABSTRACT:
Examining interactive problem-solving tasks used by individual respondents and calculating the timing spent and the number of actions in each task helped us to present an exploratory study. This exploratory study used clustering and correlation analysis methods to prove the relationship between background skills such as learning, writing, reading, and ICT at home and at work. Specifically, using the public sample from the United States data, we drew on a set of process data collected from one problem-solving item and how that related to the background skills variables. Aimed research question: Are timing and number of action patterns related to problem-solving proficiency? What does each cluster have in common regarding their PS- behavioral patterns and background skills? In problem-solving, significant differences were founded among clusters based on the process data and the proficiency levels. The results implied that educational background skills related to PS-TRE process data and influential to the proficiency levels. These results will help us to understand the relationship between sequences of actions and proficiency estimates in large-scale assessments and held the promise of further improving the accuracy of problem-solving proficiency estimates. It will be possible to identifying factors associated with problem solving skills that can be of use in improving these competencies in U.S. adult education. Process data in log files will be analyzed to identify key factors associated with problem solving proficiency level and digital literacy. Additionally, patterns can be compared in problem-solving derived from a closer examination of the different strategies used by groups that vary in employment‐related characteristics and the background education skills.
Apply Explainable AI to Sustain the Assessment of Learning Effectiveness
Chou, Tsung-Nan (Taiwan)
ABSTRACT:
With the rapid development of internet and digital technologies, online learning is becoming prevalence, and the online education market has shown significant growth over the past decade. Nowadays, online learning is probably the most essential and used option for educational institutions all over the world to conduct their teaching and learning because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of these institutions have implemented various learning management systems (LMS) to facilitate the delivery and measurement of their online learning programs. Since the LMS systems keep recording and tracking the fulfillment of lectures, assignments and examinations about learners and function as a big data repository, the educational data mining (EDM) could explore and analyze the learning effectiveness of learners based on their involvement in learning and teaching.
In general, sophisticated machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies provide solutions to understand the behavior of learners from their personalized learning profile. However, the pervasive deep learning techniques developed for AI come from the original neural network, and their network structure and interconnected weights are considered as a black box that is hard to be interpreted by humans. To enable the deep learning techniques to provide meaningful insight about learner’s outcomes, this study developed an explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) technique to analyze the relationship between learning inputs and corresponding achievement for each learner. The proposed XAI approach applied an innovative method of model grafting to integrate the traditional machine learning with deep learning models. The grafting method used the decision tree as a global model to provide interpretable ability and then concatenated with the local models, which could choose the deep neural network or K-nearest neighbor model.
The global model was considered as the primary model to provide human-readable decision rules and variable importance, while the local model might be used to improve prediction accuracy or provide additional interpretability. As the local model could be implanted to different branches of the global model, a fusion mechanism was designed to merge the variable importance from both models for each learner. The outcome of the hybrid models might identify important factors that affect learning progress and even predict the risk of a learner failing a subject based on providing interpretable decision rules.
Basic Research on Music Therapy - Proposal on Timbre Comparison Experiment Method -
Hishida, Hirotoshi; Liu, Jiayue; Komatsu, Yoshihiro; Hishida, Keiko; Hishida, Mitsuhiro; Hishida, Yasuhiro (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
Quantitative evaluation of the partial sounds of which music consists should be of importance for effective use of music. The cerebrum comprehensively recognizes the mixture of partial sounds, where the comfort of the sound is determined.
In this paper, a timbre comparison experiment is explained and the result is discussed which obtained from the experiment carried out on a group of subjects of engineering university students and music classroom students. The vague tendency is very interesting.
Many subjects are required for this experiment. While in the past, subjects were gathered into a certain place to listen to the same sound all at once to carry out the experiment, in the current situation where the new coronavirus is spreading worldwide, it is necessary to improve the method.
Behavior of Cell on Micro Ridge Pattern After Continuous Stimulation of Tangential Force
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Morita, Yu; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The behavior of each cell on the micro ridge after the continuous stimulation of the tangential force has been studied in vitro. The stripe-pattern (0.7 μm height, 3 μm width, and 3 μm interval) was made on the surface of the scaffold plate to control the orientation of each cell during the force field stimulation. Variation was made on the angle between the longitudinal direction of the ridge and the direction of the tangential force: 0 degree, 45 degrees, and 90 degrees. Myoblast (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) was used in the experiment. To apply the tangential force field to the cells, the scaffold plate was set in a tube in a conventional centrifugal machine placed in an incubator. After the centrifugation for 5 hours, the behavior of each cell at the time-lapse microscope images was traced for 10 hours. The experimental results show that cells on the ridge-lines perpendicular to the tangential force field have the higher activity (migration, and deformation) after stimulation.
Bridging the Persistent Digital Divide – Digital Literacy and Customized Open-Source Solutions (Invited Paper)
Latchman, Haniph; McNaughton, Maurice; Anderson, Stephan (Jamaica)
ABSTRACT:
The global explosion in the deployment of advanced Internet-based communication services and particularly of videoconferencing, over the past year has unquestionably been extraordinary. Yet, it is a sad fact that these technological advancements have widened the digital divide for a large sector of the global community caused, among other things, by restrictive legacy regulations and the limited availability and high cost of Internet connectivity and bandwidth.
These marginalization effects are particularly far-reaching in the education sectors, as local communities in resource-constrained developing contexts struggle to respond to the challenges of on-line teaching and learning forced by the physical restrictions of the global pandemic. The integration of customized solutions from a range of readily available open-source platforms and tools offer the promise of delivering low-cost accessible solutions that are appropriate for these contexts.
This paper will examine the historical context of the digital divide and trace its roots back to its predecessor, the technological divide before the era of digital communication and computing. The underlying causes of the digital divide will be shown to persist as the same causative markers for the present digital divide which is the subject of much present day concern.
The paper will motivate education and training to provide digital literacy opportunities to those who are unable to use digital technology even it is available to them, as well as to provide access to digital technology as a minimum, as shared resources in the affected communities.
In addition the paper shows how the provision of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (SMET) classes and degree programs, in an online Asynchronous Learning Networks (ALNs) framework, can enhance access to and literacy in digital technologies.
The paper also considers how the use of low cost IP-based telecommunication and videoconferencing systems based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Web Real Time Communication (WebRTC) standards, address some of these issues. We will first examine personal, commercial and education applications of one-to-one, customized SIP-based audio and video communication services. A scalable system will be described that provides all the features present in commercial IP-PBX systems, yet is based entirely on open-source software and has very modest hardware and bandwidth requirements. Then a customized open-source WebRTC multiparty videoconferencing system will be described that provides all the key features of popular commercial videoconferencing systems but can be owned and operated at very low cost, personally or by business enterprises of varying sizes, and by a range of educational institutions. The paper also demonstrates how an innovative integration of SIP and WebRTC as well as Internet video and audio streaming, effectively serve to bridge the persisting digital divide, enabling affordable access for underserved communities around the world, to the much needed global telecommunication and videoconferencing services.
Construction of a Music Database for Earphone Hearing Loss Prevention and Music Therapy
Hishida, Hirotoshi; Yamamoto, Dai; Kasahara, Riku; Komatsu, Yoshihiro; Hishida, Keiko; Hishida, Yasuhiro; Hishida, Mitsuhiro (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The basic research regarding the effects of sound and music on humans has been conducting in our laboratory. Here, it is aimed to raise awareness of the prevention of earphone hearing loss, which has become a serious issue for young people worldwide in recent years, and to establish the principle of music therapy, which is expected as a medical treatment that does not use drugs. Then, the data base of music, which is considered necessary for both of these aims, has been started building considering its concept and constitution.
This paper introduces the music database built up to this point. In addition, how to use the data base for ear age estimation in earphone hearing loss prevention research and sound effect estimation in music therapy research is proposed. In preparation for the music therapy experiment held by participating in the Beethoven 250th Anniversary Piano Recital, all of 32 Beethoven piano sonatas, 9 symphonies, and 16 string quartets have been added to the database.
Covid-19 Context for Meta Assessment of Digital Learning on European and Oriental Languages Programs
Makhachashvili, Rusudan; Semenist, Ivan (Ukraine)
ABSTRACT:
The study objective is to estimate and critically review the context for meta-educational assessment of digital learning on European and Oriental languages programs via in-depth assessment of individual digital distance and hybrid learning experiences and best practices by students of European (English, French, Spanish, Italian) and Oriental (Mandarin Chinese, Japanese) Languages university level programs in different regions of Ukraine (Eastern Europe) through the span of educational activities in the timeframe of COVID-19 quarantine measures of March 2020 to January 2021. The meta-assessment survey and analysis of different ICT tools is used to estimate the comprehensive array of parameters and challenges of individual quality and efficiency of translation of the real life Foreign Languages Acquisition practices into digital blended format, involving activation of interdisciplinary skills and cross-sectorial activities, assisted by ICT tools. The designed meta-learning inquiry outcomes in this respect are: student satisfaction with the framework of digitalized foreign languages education; estimation of advantages, disadvantages, challenges and opportunities of e-learning and hybrid learning in the framework of COVID-19 lockdown; evaluation of e-learning and hybrid learning efficiency as compared to traditional, face-to-face learning formats for foreign languages programs; meta-assessment of digital learning process design, learning outcomes and acquired competencies for university programs of Oriental and European languages.
Does Learning Multidisciplinary Field of Biomedical Engineering Help Pandemic of COVID-19? (Invited Paper)
Hashimoto, Shigehiro (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The global community has accelerated the spread of the virus. Medicine alone cannot solve the pandemic. The transformation of social life by new technology helps to coexist with viruses. The academic field has been divided into each specialized field. The communication tools (internet, and database), on the other hand, are developing multidisciplinary academic fields. “Multidisciplinary field” is not just collection of fields, but a fusion between fields. Many problems in the global society cannot be solved by the single disciplinarian, but are waiting for the multidisciplinarian. For students, it is not easy to find the way how to learn multidisciplinary field: curriculum, textbook, learning team, and teacher (adviser). “Biomedical Engineering” is one of the multidisciplinary fields, which have many related fields: Biology, Medicine, Informatics, and Engineering. The topic includes case studies related to COVID-19 (education for freshman, undergraduate, master and doctor courses) based on author’s experiences: from cross cultural to symbiosys.
Earphone Hearing Loss - Discussion of Accuracy of Ear Age Conversion Method -
Hishida, Hirotoshi; Watanabe, Tomoki; Fujii, Yamato; Hishida, Yasuhiro; Hishida, Mitsuhiro (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
In our laboratory, ear age is used to evaluate the degree of exhaustion for basic research on the mechanism of earphone hearing loss. The averaged audiogram as the standard to the evaluation is needed. As many audiograms as possible must be collected and the population can be statistically obtained.
In this study, Japanese and foreign literature was searched, a large number of audiograms were collected, and their averaging was performed. The variability was large, and there were not few documents in which the subject information was not clear, or which the reference sound pressure was changed. Average audiograms for Japanese women, Japanese men, foreign women, and foreign men were obtained. In the future, we will evaluate the error and aim to improve the accuracy of ear age estimation.
Effect of Activity of Cell on Division under Shear Flow Field
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Asahino, Akira; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The effect of activity of the cell on division has been investigated under the shear flow field in vitro. To make a Couette type of the shear flow, the culture medium was sandwiched with a constant gap between parallel disks: a lower stationary culture disk, and an upper rotating disk. The wall shear stress (τ) on the inner surface of the lower culture plate was controlled by the rotating speed of the upper disk. Myoblasts (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) were used in the test. After cultivation without flow for 24 hours for adhesion of cells on the lower plate, τ was continuously applied on cells for 7 days in the incubator. The behavior of each cell was traced at the time-lapse image observed by an inverted phase contrast microscope placed in an incubator. The experimental results show that a cell tends to make division after the higher activity: deformation, and migration. Each cell tends to become active before and after division. A cell tends to be exfoliated after the lower activity.
Effect of Cell Type on Behavior of Cell under Shear Flow Field Before and After Division
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Asahino, Akira; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The effect of the cell type on orientation of each cell under the shear flow has been investigated in vitro. To make a Couette type of shear flow, the culture medium was sandwiched with a constant gap between parallel walls: a lower stationary culture disk, and an upper rotating disk. The wall shear stress (τ) on the lower culture disk was controlled by the rotating speed of the upper disk. Four types of cells were used in the test: C2C12 (mouse myoblast cell line), HUVEC (Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells), 3T3-L1 (mouse fat precursor cells), and L929 (mouse fibroblast connective tissue). After cultivation without flow for 24 hours for adhesion of cells on the lower plate, the shear stress of 1 Pa was continuously applied on cells for 7 days in the incubator. The behavior (angle and deformation) of each cell (before and after division) was traced at the time lapse image observed by an inverted phase contrast microscope placed in an incubator. The experimental results show the following behavior of each cell: elongation and orientation under shear stress of 1 Pa depends on the cell type.
Effect of Contact between Myoblasts on Making Orientation of Cells under Shear Flow Field
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Sakai, Michitaka; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The effect of contact between cells on making orientation of cells under the shear flow field has been investigated in vitro. To make a Couette type of the shear flow, the culture medium was sandwiched with a constant gap between parallel walls: a lower stationary culture disk, and an upper rotating disk. The wall shear stress (2 Pa) on the lower culture disk was controlled by the rotating speed of the upper disk. Myoblasts (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) were used in the test. After cultivation without flow for 24 hours for adhesion of cells on the lower plate, the constant wall shear stress was continuously applied on cells for 7 days in the incubator. The behavior of each cell was traced at the time-lapse images observed by an inverted phase contrast microscope placed in an incubator. The experimental results quantitatively show that increase of the contact region between cells affects making perpendicular orientation of cells against the main flow direction.
Effect of Shape of Cell on Dielectrophoretic Movement in Flow Channel
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Noji, Takeru; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The effect of the shape of the flowing single cell on dielectrophoretic movement in a flow channel has been investigated in vitro. A pair of asymmetric surface electrodes of titanium were manufactured by the photolithography technique: a triangular electrode with the tip angle of 0.35 rad, and a rectangular electrode of the flat edge as the reference. The cyclic alternating electric current of the square wave (between 0.25 μs and 0.3 μs of periods) was introduced between the surface electrodes, to induce the asymmetric electric field perpendicular to the main flow direction. The suspension of cells (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) was injected into the flow channel, and the flow rate was controlled by the pressure head between the inlet and the outlet. The experimental result shows that the absolute value of the amplitude of the acceleration by the electric field, which is perpendicular to the flow direction, depends on the shape of the floating cell.
Effect of Shape of Cell on Movement over Micro Groove in Flow Channel
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Kuwabara, Shono; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The effect of the shape of the flowing cell on the movement over the micro groove in the micro flow channel has been investigated in vitro. The micro groove of the rectangular shape (4.5 μm depth) has been fabricated on the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) disk by the photolithography technique. The angle between the flow direction and the longitudinal axis of the groove is 45 degree. Variation has been made on the width (0.03 mm, 0.04 mm, and 0.05 mm) of the groove. A rectangular flow channel (0.05 mm height × 1 mm width × 25 mm length) has been constructed between two transparent PDMS disks. Myoblast (C2C12: mouse myoblast cell line) was used in the test. A main flow velocity (0.02 mm/s < νx < 0.23 mm/s) of the medium was controlled by the pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet. The shape of each flowing cell was tracked on the movie recorded by the camera attached on the eyepiece of the microscope. The experimental results show that the change of the movement (perpendicular to the main flow direction) of each flowing cell at the micro oblique-groove relates to the direction change of the major axis of the cell.
Evaluation of Simulation Based Education Clinical Preparation Program for Unstable Patient Management
Kitapcioglu, Dilek; Yaylaci, Serpil; Inanici, Sinem Yildiz; Aksoy, Mehmet Emin; Gulpinar, Mehmet Ali (Turkey)
ABSTRACT:
In this study, the aim is to evaluate clinical transfer of unstable patient management competencies acquired by learners in simulated environment and evolution of their skills in clinical environment. Performances of 87 intern medical students of Acıbadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University that participated in two weeks long simulation based education program were evaluated both in simulated environment and in real clinical environment. Analyzes were performed using the MedCalc Statistical Software version 12.7.7, Ostend, Belgium Program. Observational performance scores of Group A were 18,68±1,70 over 24 point in simulated environment and 19,65±2,87 in first clinical test and 22,12±2,45 in second clinical test. Scores of Group C were 18,9±4,55 in simulated environment 16,36±4,2 in first clinical test, and 23,32±2,44 in second clinical test. Scores of Group D were 14,5±4,04 in simulated environment 19,32±3,76 in first clinical test and 21,87±2,78 in second clinical test.. Scores of Group B in simulated environment were 17,68±2,73 but Group B performances could not be evaluated in clinical environment due to pandemic. Simulation-based education is effective for improving the competencies of learners for management of unstable patients.
Experiment of Music Therapy Conducted at a Classical Music Recital - Measurement of Pulse Wave, Blood Pressure and Mind Orientation -
Hishida, Hirotoshi; Kasahara, Riku; Hishida, Keiko; Fujii, Yamato; Etoh, Hina; Hishida, Mitsuhiro; Hishida, Yasuhiro (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
It is widely known that music affects a physical and mental condition, and attempts to prescribe music instead of medicine are being made in various places. However, there are large individual differences in the effects of music, and the authors consider that general prescription method has not been established yet so far.
In the present study, a music therapy experiment was conducted at an actual concert held in public. It was a piano recital commemorating the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth, and all the pieces played were Beethoven's. 28 subjects were women and men, aged 19 to 68, and they were classified into four groups according to whether they liked classical music and whether they knew the pieces to be performed.
Their blood pressure, pulse wave, cardiac orientation, hand sweat, salivary amylase, and muscle hardness were measured, whose results suggested that Beethoven's piano pieces generally provide a relaxing effect on the listeners. In this paper, the experimental results are discussed, which is mainly about on the pulse wave measurement conducted on 4 subjects and on the blood pressure and the directivity of the mind conducted on all subjects. Furthermore, it turned out that the method needed to be improved when experiments were conducted at an actual concert.
Experiment of Music Therapy Conducted at a Classical Music Recital - Measurement of Saliva Amylase, Hand Sweat and Muscle Hardness -
Hishida, Hirotoshi; Kasahara, Riku; Hishida, Keiko; Komatsu, Yoshihiro; Etoh, Hina; Hishida, Yasuhiro; Hishida, Mitsuhiro (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
The effect of music on the mind and body is not yet known quantitatively. In our laboratory, the basic research has been conducting for the purpose of elucidating the mechanism and referring to specific methods of music therapy. In this paper, the measurement results of salivary amylase, hand sweat, and muscle hardness performed in the music therapy experiment, which was held in a public recital. There 3 measurements suggested that Beethoven's music had a positive effect on the mind and body.
In this experiment, pulse wave, blood pressure, and cardiac directivity were also measured. The results of these measurements will be discussed in detail in another paper. Compared with these measurements, the 3 kinds of measurements described in this paper are considered to require further improvement in usage and error evaluation.
Exploring Prerequisites of Competence-Based Synergy in the Acquisition Processes in ICT Industry: Success Factors Approach
Čirjevskis, Andrejs (Latvia)
ABSTRACT:
This paper aims to develop and test a new research framework to assess the prerequisites of competence-based synergy in the acquisition process. To reach the aim, the research question has been pondered: How core competencies should be evaluated as sources of synergy in an acquisition? Having answered the question, I have researched the latest theoretical findings in the antecedents of synergy in the merger and acquisition process. Based on the literature review in-depth, I developed an ARCTIC framework. I selected a case study to test methodology empirically, namely, Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012. The research identified three steps to explore whether core competence transfer in an acquisition process is an important source of synergy.
Indicators of Schooling Development
Sall, Mamadou Youry (Senegal)
ABSTRACT:
In Social Science, the indicators are often built empirically. That is, the quality and quantity of the data determines, in this field also, the construction of indicators and their robustness. Because of insufficient information, one often proceeds by approximation to find the parameters of the theoretical distribution law. This also holds for education. The results obtained in this way should be readjusted when one has more information. One cannot, for example, continue to use the gross rate of admission or schooling when the age distribution of pupils exists. It is now unacceptable to find in some scientific publications a rate of schooling over hundred percent when we are sure that there are children out of school! Such indicators, even if they are useful for an international comparability, are mathematically not very robust and may not correspond to local reality. That is, they would not correspond to the national needs for planning. In the following, we propose another estimator to give the number of children registered at school by generation (children having the same age). Considering the quality of the educational data existing now in a great number of countries, one can achieve this goal with more statistical robustness. We have just to find the statistical law, which would generate these data in order to find their parameters. Once these are found, it will be easy to represent more accurately the reality studied and to better plan for educational policy.
Inter-Personal Tensions within Organizations – A Systemic Approach for Personal Development
Belcredi, Philipp; Stingl de Vasconcelos Guedes, Tilia (Austria)
ABSTRACT:
This paper aims to contribute to the design of a new conceptual model for coping with obtrusive inter-personal tensions within a systemic organizational development process. The model incorporates the notions of the Value and Development Square (VDS), ideas from the hypnosystemic work, and solution-focused questions into a structured process. This culminates in an approach that can be taught to, and applied by, any person aiming to provide a solution for interpersonal tensions within an organization.
For the applicability of the model for educational purposes, we created a conceptual bridge: we split the attentiveness process—which occurs during the search for solutions for an unpleasant tension—into interrelated dimensions. In doing so, the process that involves the use of the VDS can be observed in “small steps” and, if necessary, appropriate interventions can be developed. For the application of this augmented version of the square, this paper offers suggestions, such as distinctive questions for those involved in adverse tensions, which induce reflection and/or encourage a switch of perspective. With this extension of the original VDS, we intend to offer leaders, coaches, mediators, and employees a valuable tool. It assists in quickly structuring complex situations where stressful tensions persist and supports those involved in interpersonal tensions to transform these tensions into useful levers for common goals.
Modeling Organizational Structure of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Program: Transition from Consumers to Producers of Knowledge
Scrivner, Olga; Scott, Daphne; Sipes, Shannon (United States)
ABSTRACT:
Similar to a community-of-practice, the members of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), an institutional infrastructure, are driven by a shared interest and enthusiasm to improve their teaching and learning. Representing time-varying SoTL events and relationships between SoTL members as a community network introduces challenges in data linking, data model, and network analysis. In particular, it is essential to design solutions to preserve the network topology, temporal information, member status transformation, and diverse relationships between nodes. In order to account for the SoTL network complexity, we design a heterogenous graph model in the Neo4j graph database. The graph database offers a novel research method to the growing interdisciplinary SoTL field. This paper will describe the model design, challenges, and network analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of the current SoTL strategies in attracting new members and supporting the sustainability of existing cohorts and provide data-driven decision support for SoTL programs in their development and priorities.
On the Design and Conduction of Virtual Workshops: Experiences from Going Digital
Mennig, Patrick; Tamanini, Jill-Valerie (Germany)
ABSTRACT:
Workshops (e.g., Innovation and Ideation workshops, Design Sprints, etc.) and virtual workshops play a major role in today’s businesses. On the one hand, they provide a methodology for interdisciplinary collaboration, and on the other hand, they help teams solve problems by developing novel ideas, often for potentially new business opportunities. At the same time, workshop participants learn to apply various creativity techniques to solve complex problems holistically. These lessons learned support participants beyond a particular workshop. By being creative and working cooperatively, they experience a new way of working together that inspires future collaboration opportunities. In addition, workshops help to spread the thinking process behind creative and collaborative work and functions as an educational tool for corporate staff. Challenged by having had to transform our highly interactive workshops into the digital space, we have identified several practices to address these problems. We present our findings on overcoming obstacles of virtual online collaboration and discuss them from a meta-educational perspective.
Organizing Studies Entrepreneurially to Adjust Inner and Outer Worlds During COVID-19
Oganisjana, Karine *; Westerberg, Mats **; Hietanen, Lenita *** (* Latvia, ** Sweden, *** Finland)
ABSTRACT:
This research aims to analyze the effect of a five-stage strategy elaborated within the Erasmus+ project FOrSE (Framework for Organizing Studies Entrepreneurially) realized by three EU universities. The strategy was integrated into a study course of Pedagogy to enhance entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviors of first-year international Master students who did not have any opportunity for face-to-face studies because of the quarantine. The key focus of the strategy is to promote students’ ability to analyze the problems facing them during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify and/or realize new opportunities in the face of the worries and uncertainty. The qualitative content analysis of the Master students’ reflections and the analysis of the challenges faced, and new opportunities identified and/or realized showed that they tried to adjust their inner world to the events which take place in the outer world for gaining self-confidence and achieving harmony.
Power Grid Vulnerability Analysis with Rising Renewables Infiltration
Das, Saikat; Wang, Zhifang (United States)
ABSTRACT:
The increasing penetration of renewable energy has a significant impact on the performance and reliability of the power grid. This is largely because of the uncertainty of the renewable resources and the complex nature of the power system infrastructure. This paper analyzed power grids’ vulnerability to cascading failures with respect to the penetration level of renewable energy into the grid. In this paper, a novel power balance technique is used for cascading failure analysis and power grid vulnerability measurement. The proposed approach incorporates a modified optimal power flow algorithm in the grid vulnerability analysis study which accurately reflects the most probable path of cascading failure evolution process with uncertain renewable generation. The simulation results on IEEE 118 bus system and IEEE 300 bus system showed that increasing penetration of renewable energy have proportionally higher impact on grid vulnerability to cascading failures due to injection of higher uncertainties into the grid.
Putting into Action Crisis-Driven Business Solutions During COVID-19 Pandemic
Oganisjana, Karine; Lace, Natalja (Latvia)
ABSTRACT:
This research was conducted within the National Research project “ReCOVery - LV” for exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Latvian companies, specifically analyzing in this paper the range of emotions experienced by the Latvian companies and the new solutions they elaborated and realized to overcome the crisis despite the shock and stress. The qualitative content analysis of the feedback from 334 companies revealed their anxiety combined with the emotions of fear, anger and sadness, including six more emotions which present these three basic emotions’ different levels of intensity. Although, being in this negative emotional state, some of the companies managed to increase their revenues introducing new products and services, creating new sales channels and attracting new clients, digitalize processes and achieve cost savings.
Regional Pet Database: An Information System to Guarantee Pet-Population Control
Manca, Grazia; Callegaro, Azzurra; Rostellato, Daniele; Rizzo, Simone; Bortolotti, Laura; Contalbrigo, Laura (Italy)
ABSTRACT:
An epidemiological approach to the study of pet population is needed to ensure the application of effective public health policies, addressed in particular to the management of monitoring plans and veterinary controls in the urban environments, where the human-pet interaction is closer. Since 1993, a regional database for pet-animals (dogs, cats and ferrets), called BAC, has been implemented in North-Eastern Italy (Veneto Region), involving both private and public Veterinary Services of the Local Public Health Units (LPHUs). BAC has been developed using the Oracle RDBMS platform with two applications ANACANI and ACWEB.
The information system includes data about owners and/or keepers, animals, their movements and events like vaccinations, neutering and dogs aggressions/bites. Data are processed and organized in reports useful to plan stray dog and cat population control strategies. Moreover, public Veterinary Services can use the system to monitor some social phenomena like owned-dog aggression and bites or pet abandon.
Seasonal Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Lipid Consumption
Mitsuno, Tamaki; Maruyama, Yui Ando (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
Physical exercise is important for limiting fat mass and preventing obesity. Aerobic exercise after breakfast is effective in helping to maintain lipid consumption. Participants in this study included nine young Japanese women with body mass index (BMI) 19.0–23.5 who did not exercise regularly. Participants engaged in 30 min of aerobic exercise with loads equivalent to 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%, and 45% of maximum heart rate in sequential 6-min intervals during summer and winter. Respiratory metabolism and heart rate were measured using a bicycle ergometer. The amount of energy, lipids, and carbohydrates consumed was calculated using respiratory quotients. Energy and carbohydrate consumption and heart rate increased significantly compared with the resting control period, that increased linearly with increased exercise load. However, lipid consumption was not different across different exercise loads during both seasons. We calculated the difference of lipid consumption between winter and summer (Y). Our findings show that the relation between the difference in lipid consumption (Y) and BMI (X) was a significantly straight line (Y = −23.6 X +21.3, R2 = 0.628). That is, participants with BMI >21.3 can more easily reduce body fat in summer, whereas those with BMI <21.3 can more easily reduce body fat in winter.
The (Failed) Effort for a Systematic Approach to Legal Education in Albania
Leka, Adrian (Albania)
ABSTRACT:
Citizens’ knowledge of the law plays an essential role in any democratic society where human actions and relations are regulated by legal norms and rules. As these rules are often complex and subject to change, and more often than not, based on a generalized perspective rather than a personal one. To establish and maintain an effective justice system, it is necessary to guarantee public access to the knowledge of law. This article will focus on a new approach established in Albania that public knowledge of the statutes, rights, obligations, etc., is not only a legal education function, but also a component of the dominant culture and of the civic need for access to the justice system. The article will argue how this approach, although admirable and worthy of effort, needs careful consideration and realistic planning, in order not to remain just a beautiful wish on paper.
The Influence of Selected Microeconomic Factors on the Willingness of the Company Operating in Creative Industries to Collaborate
Micak, Peter; Kocmanova, Alena (Czech Republic)
ABSTRACT:
The field of creative industries is an area that has recently become the subject of gradually increasing scientific interest. This is mainly due to how they differ compared to the more traditional sectors of the economy. We consider it necessary to examine the creative industries not only from a macroeconomic point of view or from the point of view of regional development, which are the prevailing approaches to their research, but also from a microeconomic point of view. Because only by understanding the internal logic of companies, will it be possible to understand the benefits and functionality of their internal processes. The paper aims to analyse the influence of selected factors at the company's microeconomic level on its willingness to collaborate with other companies. Because through such collaboration, it is possible to effectively share knowledge and experience in this sector of the economy, which in turn impacts companies' innovative performance. The article's research is based on a statistical analysis of the obtained data from the subsector of creative industries, namely the publishing industry. The results show a positive impact of strategic management's existence on the company's willingness to collaborate with other companies and institutions, especially with foreign companies, public institutions, and multinational companies. The influence of more liberal management approach in the company on its willingness to cooperate with its surroundings was not confirmed in the analysis. The results serve as a basis for further research in the field. Their validity must also be verified in other subsectors of the creative industries, as the creative industries cannot be considered a homogeneous sector.
Tracking of Deformation of Cell During Passing Through Micro Gap
Hashimoto, Shigehiro; Toyota, Shoki; Yonezawa, Hiroki; Endo, Yuji (Japan)
ABSTRACT:
Deformation of each cell during passing through a micro-slit in a flow channel has been investigated in vitro. At the middle part of the flow channel, the slit with the rectangular cross section (7 μm height, 0.4 mm width, and 0.1 mm length) has been made by the photolithography technique. Myoblasts (C2C12: mouse myoblast cells) were used in the test. The flow rate of the medium, in which cells were suspended, was controlled by the pressure head between the inlet and the outlet. The deformation of cells passing through the micro slit was observed with an inverted phase-contrast microscope. The experimental results show intermittent deformation of each cell quantitatively through the gap.
Venture Capital Supply Determinants in Undeveloped Markets
Matisone, Anita; Lace, Natalja (Latvia)
ABSTRACT:
A considerable amount of public funding in the form of VC has been made available in Europe, especially in its least developed parts, to decrease market gap for such funding. Still, even after many public interventions, the market's deficiencies in many countries are not eliminated, and the industry still stands on public support.
There are many studies regarding factors influencing the VC supply side and as a result ability of a particular country to have a self-sufficient VC market. The study aimed to build a comprehensive list of determinants of VC supply and identify most triggering in unmatured VC markets.
The paper presents the VC supply determinants’ conceptual model. The model was built on the results of the literature content analysis. As per the model, the local market and legal environment is the most crucial determinant of the country's VC supply. The public support and the features of local society has impact on the supply, but much less than the environment and not direct but through interconnectedness with other determinants.
The validation of the conceptual model by analysing data from mature and immature VC countries confirms the validity of the proposed model. As suggested by the model, the total supply in the countries with a beneficial market and legal environment has little correlation directly from other determinants.
In the undeveloped VC countries, the market and legal environment also is the main determinant of the supply. As the environment has huge flaws there, the organic supply in these countries is very low. The public support has a stronger impact in these countries, still not sufficient in a longer period without interconnectedness with other factors substantially improve the VC supply.
Applying VC determinants’ model logic it is understandable that improvement of the supply is long-term step-by-step process, which could be reached continuously providing public support and directly and indirectly improving the market and legal environment and society’s acceptability and fitness for VC.
Why Are Simple Organisms Haploid and Complex Organisms Diploid?
Ginn, Brian R. (United States)
ABSTRACT:
It is generally known that simple organisms tend to be haploid and complex organisms tend to be diploid. Yet there is no consensus explanation for this phenomenon. This paper attempts to provide an answer. Many studies have found a correlation between species' morphological complexity and the complexity of their protein interaction networks. Other studies have shown that the complex protein interaction networks are controlled by a class of managerial proteins that coordinate and regulate the biological activity within organisms. The managerial proteins must interact with many partners to perform their function, which requires them to be long, to be multi-domain, and to contain intrinsically unstructured regions. Unfortunately, these physical properties make the managerial proteins susceptible to aggregation, which can lead to the accumulation of toxic protein aggregates. Organisms can employ heterozygosity to inhibit protein aggregation, but only if they are diploid. Hence, complex organisms tend to be diploid because they tend to synthesize aggregation-prone proteins. On the other hand, simple organisms tend to be haploid because they synthesize proteins that are less prone to aggregation. The theory may also explain ecological trends associated with organisms of different ploidy level.
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