Search results for: academic documents

Authors: Darshana Sharma

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Distance Education has emerged as a viable alternative to serve the higher educational needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged people of the remote, rural areas of Jammu region. The University of Jammu is a National Accreditation, and Assessment Council accredited, A+ university and has been accorded graded autonomy by the University Grants Commission. It is a dual mode university offering academic programmes through the regular departments and through the Directorate of Distance Education. The Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu still uses printed study material as a mode of instructional delivery. The development of technologies has assured increased interaction and communication for distance learners throughout the distance open learning institutions. Though it is tempting and convenient to adopt technology already being used by others, it may not prove effective for the simple reason that two institutions may be unlike in some respect. The use of technology must be conceived in view of the needs of the learners; geographical socio-economic-cultural and technological contexts and financial, administrative and academic resources of the institution. Mobile learning (m-learning) is a novel approach to knowledge acquisition and dissemination and is gaining global attention. It has evolved as one of the useful channels of distance learning promoting interaction between learners and teachers. It is felt that the Directorate of Distance Education, University of Jammu also needs to adopt new technologies to provide more effective academic and information support to distance learners in order to keep them motivated and also to develop self-learning skills. The chief objective of the research on which this paper is based was to measure the opinion of the distance learners of the DDE, the University of Jammu about the merits of mobile learning. It also explores their preferences for implementing mobile learning. The survey research design of descriptive research has been used. The data was collected from 400 distance learners enrolled with undergraduate and post-graduate programmes using self-constructed questionnaire containing five-point Likert scale items arranging from strongly agree, agree, indifferent, disagree and strongly disagree. Percentages were used to analyze the data. The findings lead to conclude that mobile learning has a great potential for the DDE for reaching out to the rural, remotely located distance learners of the Jammu region and also to improve the teaching-learning environment. The paper also finds out the challenges in the implementation of mobile learning in the region and further makes suggestions for effective implementation of mobile learning in DDE, University of Jammu.

Keywords: directorate of distance education, mobile learning, national accreditation and assessment council, university of Jammu

Procedia PDF Downloads 123

Authors: Evridiki Zachopoulou, Vasilis Grammatikopoulos, Michail Vitoulis, Athanasios Gregoriadis

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In the last ten years, the recent economic crisis in Greece has decreased the financial ability and strength of several families when it comes to supporting their children’s studies. As a result, the number of students who are significantly delaying or even dropping out of their university studies is constantly increasing. The students who are at greater risk for academic failure are those who are facing various problems and social disadvantages, like health problems, special needs, family poverty or unemployment, single-parent students, immigrant students, etc. The ‘Umbrella’ project is a volunteer-based initiative to tackle this problem at International Hellenic University. The main purpose of the project is to provide support to disadvantaged students at a socio-emotional, academic, and practical level in order to help them complete their undergraduate studies. More specifically, the ‘Umbrella’ project has the following goals: (a) to develop a consulting-supporting network based on volunteering senior students, called ‘i-mentors’. (b) to train the volunteering i-mentors and create a systematic and consistent support procedure for students at-risk, (c), to develop a service that, parallel to the i-mentor network will be ensuring opportunities for at-risk students to find a job, (d) to support students who are coping with accessibility difficulties, (e) to secure the sustainability of the ‘Umbrella’ project after the completion of the funding of the project. The innovation of the Umbrella project is in its holistic-person-centered approach that will be providing individualized support -via the i-mentors network- to any disadvantaged student that will come ‘under the Umbrella.’

Keywords: peer mentoring, student support, socially disadvantaged students, volunteerism in higher education

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Authors: Christine Winberg, James Garraway

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Many key university documents, such as vision and mission statements and strategic plans, are aspirational and future-oriented. There is a wide range of future-oriented methods that are used in planning applications, ranging from mathematical modelling to expert opinions. Many of these methods have limitations, and planners using these tools might, for example, make the technical-rational assumption that their plans will unfold in a logical and inevitable fashion, thus underestimating the many complex forces that are at play in planning for an unknown future. This is the issue that this study addresses. The overall project aim was to assist a new university of technology in developing appropriate responses to its social responsibility, graduate employability and research missions in its strategic plan. The specific research question guiding the research activities and approach was: how might the use of innovative future-oriented planning tools enable or constrain a strategic planning process? The research objective was to engage collaborating groups in the use of an innovative tool to develop and assess future scenarios, for the purpose of developing deeper understandings of possible futures and their challenges. The scenario planning tool chosen was ‘fictive scripting’, an analytical technique derived from Technology Forecasting and Innovation Studies. Fictive scripts are future projections that also take into account the present shape of the world and current developments. The process thus began with a critical diagnosis of the present, highlighting its tensions and frictions. The collaborative groups then developed fictive scripts, each group producing a future scenario that foregrounded different institutional missions, their implications and possible consequences. The scripts were analyzed with a view to identifying their potential contribution to the university’s strategic planning exercise. The unfolding fictive scripts revealed a number of insights in terms of unexpected benefits, unexpected challenges, and unexpected consequences. These insights were not evident in previous strategic planning exercises. The contribution that this study offers is to show how better choices can be made and potential pitfalls avoided through a systematic foresight exercise. When universities develop strategic planning documents, they are looking into the future. In this paper it is argued that the use of appropriate tools for future-oriented exercises, can help planners to understand more fully what achieving desired outcomes might entail, what challenges might be encountered, and what unexpected consequences might ensue.

Keywords: fictive scripts, scenarios, strategic planning, technological forecasting

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Authors: Gülden Küçükakça, Şefika Dilek Güven, Rahşan Kolutek, Seçil Taylan

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Objective: Nursing students face with stress factors affecting academic performance and quality of life as from first moments of their educational life. Stress causes health problems in students such as physical, psycho-social, and behavioral disorders and might damage formation of professional identity by decreasing efficiency of education. In addition to determination of stress experienced by nursing students during their education, it was aimed to help review theoretical and clinical education settings for bringing stress of nursing students into positive level and to raise awareness of educators concerning their own professional behaviors. Methods: The study was conducted with 315 students studying at nursing department of Semra and Vefa Küçük Health High School, Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli University in the academic year of 2015-2016 and agreed to participate in the study. “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researchers upon the literature review and “Nursing Education Stress Scale (NESS)” were used in this study. Data were assessed with analysis of variance and correlation analysis. Results: Mean NESS Scale score of the nursing students was estimated to be 66.46±16.08 points. Conclusions: As a result of this study, stress level experienced by nursing undergraduate students during their education was determined to be high. In accordance with this result, it can be recommended to determine sources of stress experienced by nursing undergraduate students during their education and to develop approaches to eliminate these stress sources.

Keywords: stress, nursing education, nursing student, nursing education stress

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Authors: Thomas Benson

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Smart cities have been heralded as multi-faceted entities which utilise information and communication technologies to enhance citizen participation. The purpose of this paper is to outline authoritative definitions of smart cities and citizen participation and investigate smart city citizen-centrism rhetoric by examining urban governance and citizen participation processes. Drawing on extant literature and official city government documents and websites, Singapore (Singapore) and Tokyo (Japan) are chosen as comparable smart city case studies. For the smart city to be truly realised, this paper concludes that smart cities must do more to incorporate genuine citizen participation mechanisms.

Keywords: citizen participation, smart cities, urban governance, Singapore, Tokyo

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Authors: Anjum Afrooze

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The curriculum at General Sciences department in Prince Sultan University includes ‘Physical science’ for Computer Science, Information Technology and Business courses. Students are apathetic towards Physical Science and question, as to, ‘How this course is related to their majors?’ English is not a native language for the students and also for many instructors. More than sixty percent of the students come from institutions where English is not the medium of instruction, which makes student learning and academic achievement challenging. After observing the less enthusiastic student cohort for two consecutive semesters, the instructor was keen to find effective strategies to enhance learning and further encourage deep learning by engaging students in different tasks to empower them with necessary skills and motivate them. This study is participatory action research, in which instructor designs effective tasks to engage students in their learning. The study is conducted through two semesters with a total of 200 students. The effectiveness of this approach is studied using questionnaire at the end of each semester and teacher observation. Major outcomes of this study were overall improvement in students attitude towards science learning, enhancement of multiple skills like note taking, problem solving, language proficiency and also fortifying confidence. This process transformed instructor into engaging and reflecting practitioner. Also, these strategies were implemented by other instructors teaching the course and proved effective in opening a path to changes in related areas of the course curriculum. However, refinement in the strategies could be done based on student evaluation and instructors observation.

Keywords: group activity, language proficiency, reasoning skills, science learning

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Authors: Friman Hen, Banner Ifaa, Shalom-Tuchin Bosmat, Einav Yulia

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The action learning course is an academic course which involves academic learning and social activities. The courses deal with processes and social challenges, reveal different ideologies, and develop critical thinking and pragmatic ideas. Students receive course credits and a grade for being part of such courses. Participating students enroll in courses that involve action and activities to engage in the experiential learning process, thereby creating a dialogue and cross-fertilization between being taught in the classroom and experiencing the reality in the real world. A learning experience includes meeting with social organizations, institutions, and state authorities and carrying out practical work with diverse populations. Through experience, students strengthen their academic skills, formulate ethical attitudes toward reality, develop professional and civilian perspectives, and realize how they can influence their surrounding in the present and the hereafter. Under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Hen Friman, H.I.T. has built an innovative course that combines action and activities to increase the awareness and accessibility of the community in an experiential way. The end goal is to create Green Ambassadors—children with a high level of environmental awareness. This course is divided into two parts. The first part, focused on frontal teaching, delivers knowledge from extensive environmental fields to students. These areas include introduction to ecology, the process of electricity generation, air pollution, renewable energy, water economy, waste and recycling, and energy efficiency (first stage). In addition to the professional content in the environment field, students learn the method of effective and experiential teaching to younger learners (4 to 8 years old). With the attainment of knowledge, students are divided into operating groups. The second part of the course shows how the theory becomes practical and concrete. At this stage, students are asked to introduce to the first- and second-graders of ‘Revivim’ School in Holon a lesson of 90 minutes focused on presenting the issues and their importance during the course (second stage). This course is the beginning of a paradigm shift regarding energy usage in the modern society in Israel. The objective of the course is to expand worldwide and train the first and second-graders, and even pre-schoolers, in a wide scope to increase population awareness rate, both in Israel and all over the world, for a green future.

Keywords: air pollution, green ambassador, recycling, renewable energy

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Authors: Kurt Willems

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The right to education is a fundamental human right, which has been entrenched in many international and regional treaties and national constitutions. Nevertheless, practice shows that many obstacles impede easy access to quality education for refugees. Overall, the material effects of international human rights legislation on improving (irregular) migrants’ access to social rights in the European countries have remained limited due to the lack of guarantees on effective incorporation in the municipal legal order and due to the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms. After the recent refugee crisis in Europe, this issue has grown in importance. The presentation aims to give a brief overview of the most important issues impeding the effective enforceability of the right to education for refugees. I. Do refugees fall within the scope of application of the relevant human rights treaties and to which extent can they invoke human rights treaties in domestic courts to set aside domestic legislation? II. How is the justiciability of the right to education organized in those treaties? III. What is the legal answer to questions raised in practice when dealing with the influx of refugees in Europe: (i) can refugees be placed in separate schools or classes until they can follow the regular curriculum?; (ii) can higher school fees be asked from pupils without legal documents?; (iii) do refugees have a right to be taught in their own native language until they learn to speak the national language? To answer the above questions, the doctrinal and comparative legal method will be used. The normative framework, as interpreted within Europe, will be distilled from the recent and relevant international treaties and European law instruments (in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the European Convention on human rights, the European Social Charter and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) and their underlying policy documents, the legal literature, the (limited) European jurisprudence, and the general comments to those treaties. The article is mainly descriptive in nature. Its aim is to serve as a summary of the legal provisions, case law and legal literature on the topic of the right to education for refugees. The research shows that the reasons for the delicate enforceability of the rights to and the rights in education are multifold. The research will categorize the different contributing factors under the following headings: (i) problems related to the justiciability of international law as such; (ii) problems specifically related to the educational field; (iii) problems related to policy issues in the refugee debate. By categorizing the reasons contributing to the difficult enforceability of the right to education and the rights in education for refugees, this research hopes to facilitate the search for solutions to this delicate problem.

Keywords: right to education, refugees, discrimination, enforceability of human rights

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Authors: Kanika Gupta, Ashok Kumar

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Biofilms are dense, highly hydrated cell clusters that are irreversibly attached to a substratum, to an interface or to each other, and are embedded in a self-produced gelatinous matrix composed of extracellular polymeric substances. Research in biofilm field has become very significant, as biofilm has shown high mechanical resilience and resistance to antibiotic treatment and constituted as a significant problem in both healthcare and other industry related to microorganisms. The massive information both stated and hidden in the biofilm literature are growing exponentially therefore it is not possible for researchers and practitioners to automatically extract and relate information from different written resources. So, the current work proposes and discusses the use of text mining techniques for the extraction of information from biofilm literature corpora containing 34306 documents. It is very difficult and expensive to obtain annotated material for biomedical literature as the literature is unstructured i.e. free-text. Therefore, we considered unsupervised approach, where no annotated training is necessary and using this approach we developed a system that will classify the text on the basis of growth and development, drug effects, radiation effects, classification and physiology of biofilms. For this, a two-step structure was used where the first step is to extract keywords from the biofilm literature using a metathesaurus and standard natural language processing tools like Rapid Miner_v5.3 and the second step is to discover relations between the genes extracted from the whole set of biofilm literature using pubmed.mineR_v1.0.11. We used unsupervised approach, which is the machine learning task of inferring a function to describe hidden structure from 'unlabeled' data, in the above-extracted datasets to develop classifiers using WinPython-64 bit_v3.5.4.0Qt5 and R studio_v0.99.467 packages which will automatically classify the text by using the mentioned sets. The developed classifiers were tested on a large data set of biofilm literature which showed that the unsupervised approach proposed is promising as well as suited for a semi-automatic labeling of the extracted relations. The entire information was stored in the relational database which was hosted locally on the server. The generated biofilm vocabulary and genes relations will be significant for researchers dealing with biofilm research, making their search easy and efficient as the keywords and genes could be directly mapped with the documents used for database development.

Keywords: biofilms literature, classifiers development, text mining, unsupervised learning approach, unstructured data, relational database

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Authors: Christina Van Wingerden

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This paper focuses on a sense of belonging, isolation, and the use of a learning management system as a “third space” for connection and community. Given student use of learning management systems (LMS) for courses on campuses, moderate to high use of social media and hand-held devices, the author explores the possibilities of LMS as a third space. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated student experiences of isolation, and research indicates that students who experience a sense of belonging have a greater likelihood for academic retention and success. The impacts on students of an LMS designed for student employee orientation and training were examined through a mixed methods approach, including a survey, individual interviews, and focus groups. The sample involved 250-450 undergraduate student employees at a US northwestern university. The goal of the study was to find out the efficiency and effectiveness of the orientation information for a wide range of student employees from multiple student affairs departments. And unexpected finding emerged within the study in 2015 and was noted again as a finding in the 2017 study. Students reported feeling like they individually connected to the department, and further to the university because of the LMS orientation. They stated they could see themselves as part of the university community and like they belonged. The orientation, through the LMS, was designed for and occurred online (asynchronous), prior to students traveling and beginning university life for the academic year. The students indicated connection and belonging resulting from some of the design features. With the onset of COVID-19 and prolonged sheltering in place in North America, as well as other parts of the world, students have been precluded from physically gathering to educate and learn. COVID-19 essentially paused face-to-face education in 2020. Media, governments, and higher education outlets have been reporting on widespread college student stress, isolation, loneliness, and sadness. In this context, the author conducted a current mixed methods study (online survey, online interviews) of students in advanced degree programs, like Ph.D. and Ed.D. specifically investigating isolation and sense of belonging. As a part of the study a prototype of a Canvas site was experienced by student interviewees for their reaction of this Canvas site prototype as a “third” space. Some preliminary findings of this study are presented. Doctoral students in the study affirmed the potential of LMS as a third space for community and social academic connection.

Keywords: COVID-19, isolation, learning management system, sense of belonging

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Authors: Parul Khanna, Pavol Zavarsky, Dale Lindskog

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Doxing is a term derived from documents, and hence consists of collecting information on an organization or individual through social media websites, search engines, password cracking methods, social engineering tools and other sources of publicly displayed information. The main purpose of doxing attacks is to threaten, embarrass, harass and humiliate the organization or individual. Various tools are used to perform doxing. Tools such as Maltego visualize organization’s architecture which helps in determining weak links within the organization. This paper discusses limitations of Maltego Chlorine CE 3.6.0 and suggests measures as to how organizations can use these tools to protect themselves from doxing attacks.

Keywords: advanced persistent threat, FOCA, OSINT, PII

Procedia PDF Downloads 256

Authors: Khaled Hamdan, Abid Amorri, Fatima Hamdan

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Involving students in English language learning process and achieving an adequate English language proficiency in the target language can be a great challenge for both teachers and students. This can prove even a far greater challenge to engage students with special needs (Dyslexia) if they have physical impairment and inadequate mastery of basic communicative language competence/proficiency in the target language. From this perspective, technology like robots can probably be used to enhance learning process for the special needs students who have extensive communication needs, who face continuous struggle to interact with their peers and teachers and meet academic requirements. Robots, precisely NAO, can probably provide them with the perfect opportunity to practice social and communication skills, and meet their English academic requirements. This research paper aims to identify to what extent robots can be used to improve students’ social interaction and communication skills and to understand the potential for robotics-based education in motivating and engaging UAEU dyslexic students to meet university requirements. To reach this end, the paper will explore several factors that come into play – Motion Level-involving cognitive activities, Interaction Level-involving language processing, Behavior Level -establishing a close relationship with the robot and Appraisal Level- focusing on dyslexia students’ achievement in the target language.

Keywords: dyslexia, robot technology, motion, interaction, behavior and appraisal levels, social and communication skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 372

Authors: Yan Jiajun, Baroque Opera, Florentine Camerata

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This paper explores the origins, development, and cultural impact of early European opera, particularly focusing on its inception in late 16th century Italy and its subsequent spread across Europe. Through an in-depth analysis of key operas and performers, this study demonstrates how opera served as both a reflection of and an influence on the social, political, and economic landscapes of early modern Europe. The discussion includes the role of public opera houses, the commercialization of the art form, and the significance of the prima donna, supported by references to relevant literature and historical documents.

Keywords: early European opera, baroque opera, Florentine camerata, prima donna, cultural impact

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Authors: Kayode A. Olaniyi, Olabanji F. Omotoye, Adeola A. Ogunleye

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The skew detection and correction form an important part of digital document analysis. This is because uncompensated skew can deteriorate document features and can complicate further document image processing steps. Efficient text document analysis and digitization can rarely be achieved when a document is skewed even at a small angle. Once the documents have been digitized through the scanning system and binarization also achieved, document skew correction is required before further image analysis. Research efforts have been put in this area with algorithms developed to eliminate document skew. Skew angle correction algorithms can be compared based on performance criteria. Most important performance criteria are accuracy of skew angle detection, range of skew angle for detection, speed of processing the image, computational complexity and consequently memory space used. The standard Hough Transform has successfully been implemented for text documentation skew angle estimation application. However, the standard Hough Transform algorithm level of accuracy depends largely on how much fine the step size for the angle used. This consequently consumes more time and memory space for increase accuracy and, especially where number of pixels is considerable large. Whenever the Hough transform is used, there is always a tradeoff between accuracy and speed. So a more efficient solution is needed that optimizes space as well as time. In this paper, an improved Hough transform (HT) technique that optimizes space as well as time to robustly detect document skew is presented. The modified algorithm of Hough Transform presents solution to the contradiction between the memory space, running time and accuracy. Our algorithm starts with the first step of angle estimation accurate up to zero decimal place using the standard Hough Transform algorithm achieving minimal running time and space but lacks relative accuracy. Then to increase accuracy, suppose estimated angle found using the basic Hough algorithm is x degree, we then run again basic algorithm from range between ±x degrees with accuracy of one decimal place. Same process is iterated till level of desired accuracy is achieved. The procedure of our skew estimation and correction algorithm of text images is implemented using MATLAB. The memory space estimation and process time are also tabulated with skew angle assumption of within 00 and 450. The simulation results which is demonstrated in Matlab show the high performance of our algorithms with less computational time and memory space used in detecting document skew for a variety of documents with different levels of complexity.

Keywords: hough-transform, skew-detection, skew-angle, skew-correction, text-document

Procedia PDF Downloads 159

Authors: Rosaline Govender, Shubnam Rambharos

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Universities are, to a certain extent, the source of under-preparedness ideologically, structurally, and pedagogically, particularly since organizational cultures often alienate students by failing to enable epistemological access. This is evident in the unsustainably low graduation rates that characterize South African higher education, which indicate that under 30% graduate in minimum time, under two-thirds graduate within 6 years, and one-third have not graduated after 10 years. Although the statistics for the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) in South Africa have improved significantly from 2019 to 2021, the graduation (32%), throughput (50%), and dropout rates (16%) are still a matter for concern as the graduation rates, in particular, are quite similar to the national statistics. For our students to succeed, higher education should take a multi-pronged approach to ensure student success, and student engagement is one of the ways to support our students. Student engagement depends not only on students’ teaching and learning experiences but, more importantly, on their social and academic integration, their sense of belonging, and their emotional connections in the institution. Such experiences need to challenge students academically and engage their intellect, grow their communication skills, build self-discipline, and promote confidence. The aim of this mixed methods study is to explore the multi-pronged nature of student success within the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics at DUT and focuses on the enabling and constraining factors of student success. The sources of data were the Mid-year student experience survey (N=60), the Hambisa Student Survey (N=85), and semi structured focus group interviews with first, second, and third year students of the Faculty of Accounting and Informatics Hambisa program. The Hambisa (“Moving forward”) focus area is part of the Siyaphumelela 2.0 project at DUT and seeks to understand the multiple challenges that are impacting student success which create a large “middle” cohort of students that are stuck in transition within academic programs. Using the lens of the sociocultural influences on student engagement framework, we conducted a thematic analysis of the two surveys and focus group interviews. Preliminary findings indicate that living conditions, choice of program, access to resources, motivation, institutional support, infrastructure, and pedagogical practices impact student engagement and, thus, student success. It is envisaged that the findings from this project will assist the university in being better prepared to enable student success.

Keywords: social and academic integration, socio-cultural influences, student engagement, student success

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Authors: Zheng Lulin, Xiong Guoping

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In recent years, agriculture, rural development, and peasants are among the top concerns and priorities of the Chinese Government. Several related issues have been paid many attentions by academic communities, including the impacts of corresponding policies on the rural villages, the mechanisms of these impacts, and the future development of rural society. However, most of the researchers focus on single rural policy instead of integral rural policy system. Hence, this dissertation focused on the mechanisms of policies’ influence on rural changes through a case study from Changfu Village in central Guangxi Province, China, to propose the optimized suggestions for rural development. Forty-three relevant pivotal policies of significant influence on rural development are summarized from literature and documents, covering five aspects of agricultural production, rural living security, open rural markets, rural household registration systems, and farmland transferring. Besides, having been live in this area for more than 20 years, researchers obtain the basic information about changing the social connection between citizens and villagers, the habitat of villagers by years of informal interviews. Furthermore, more than 200 questionnaires are given to villagers to analyze the changing of their personal and family information. The summary of rural policies revealed that the development trend of public rural policies followed the U-shape curve and these policies are characterized by economic intentions and operative economy. Report of questionnaires and interviews show that the development of rural economy was promoted greatly by public policies. Firstly, Social communication and rural culture were affected to a certain extent. Secondly, the educational level of rural individuals was significantly enhanced, whereas the quality of population had limited progress. Finally, the freedom of occupational choice for rural individuals into cities was greater than before, but still restricted by the class solidification of social background, resulting in more obstacles for rural individuals to settle down in cities. From what we discuss about, we may reach the conclusion on several perspectives: Firstly, the impact of the rural policies has a significant role in promoting the economy development of the rural area. However, separations between rural and urban area are still a major problem since rural policy contributed little to improve the rural population quality. Therefore, in the future, providing high quality educational facilities including teachers, libraries, and opportunities of broadening their knowledge base are key issues of future rural policy. Secondly, the development of rural economy would be a lack of driving force for further improvement owning to the fact that working hard couldn’t get more improvement. In the future, public policies should support the rural development of culture, technology, and personal qualities to create favorable social environment for the free increase of rural population.

Keywords: changing of rural area, rural development of China, rural policy, social environment

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Authors: Enido Fabiano de Ramos, Ieda Kanashiro Makiya, Francisco I. Giocondo Cesar

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This study presents an analysis of the Digital Twin concept applied to the academic environment, focusing on the development of a Digital Twin Smart Campus Framework. Using bibliometric analysis methodologies and literature review, the research investigates the evolution and applications of the Digital Twin in educational contexts, comparing these findings with the advances of Industry 4.0. It was identified gaps in the existing literature and highlighted the need to adapt Digital Twin principles to meet the specific demands of a smart campus. By integrating Industry 4.0 concepts such as automation, Internet of Things, and real-time data analytics, we propose an innovative framework for the successful implementation of the Digital Twin in academic settings. The results of this study provide valuable insights for university campus managers, allowing for a better understanding of the potential applications of the Digital Twin for operations, security, and user experience optimization. In addition, our framework offers practical guidance for transitioning from a digital campus to a digital twin smart campus, promoting innovation and efficiency in the educational environment. This work contributes to the growing literature on Digital Twins and Industry 4.0, while offering a specific and tailored approach to transforming university campuses into smart and connected spaces, high demanded by Society 5.0 trends. It is hoped that this framework will serve as a basis for future research and practical implementations in the field of higher education and educational technology.

Keywords: smart campus, digital twin, industry 4.0, education trends, society 5.0

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Authors: Aitana Alonso-Nogueira, Helia Estévez-Fernández, Isaías García

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This paper presents an approach to reduce some of its current flaws in the requirements phase inside the software development process. It takes the software requirements of an application, makes a conceptual modeling about it and formalizes it within JSON documents. This formal model is lodged in a NoSQL database which is document-oriented, that is, MongoDB, because of its advantages in flexibility and efficiency. In addition, this paper underlines the contributions of the detailed approach and shows some applications and benefits for the future work in the field of automatic code generation using model-driven engineering tools.

Keywords: conceptual modelling, JSON, NoSQL databases, requirements engineering, software development

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Authors: I. Fahi, T. Remmal, F. El Kamel, B. Ayoub

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The treatment of the geotechnical database of the region of Casablanca was difficult to achieve due to the heterogeneity of the nomenclature of the lithological formations composing its soil. It appears necessary to harmonize the nomenclature of the facies and to produce cartographic documents useful for construction projects and studies before any investment program. To achieve this, more than 600 surveys made by the Public Laboratory for Testing and Studies (LPEE) in the agglomeration of Casablanca, were studied. Moreover, some local observations were made in different places of the metropolis. Each survey was the subject of a sheet containing lithological succession, macro and microscopic description of petrographic facies with photographic illustration, as well as measurements of geomechanical tests. In addition, an X-ray diffraction analysis was made in order to characterize the surficial formations of the region.

Keywords: Casablanca, guidebook, petrography, soil

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Authors: Nitza Davidovitch, Yael Yossel-Eisenbach

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The purpose of the study was to inquire whether there was a change in the shaping of undergraduate students’ digitally-oriented study pattern in the pre-Covid (2016-2017) versus post-Covid period (2022-2023), as affected by three factors: social background characteristics, high school, and academic background characteristics. These two-time points were cauterized by dramatic changes in teaching and learning at institutions of higher education. The data were collected via cross-sectional surveys at two-time points, in the 2016-2017 academic school year (N=443) and in the 2022-2023 school year (N=326). The questionnaire was distributed on social media and it includes questions on demographic background characteristics, previous studies in high school and present academic studies, and questions on learning and reading habits. Method of analysis: A. Statistical descriptive analysis, B. Mean comparison tests were conducted to analyze the variations in the mean score for the digitally-oriented learning pattern variable at two-time points (pre- and post-Covid) in relation to each of the independent variables. C. Analysis of variance was performed to test the main effects and the interactions. D. Applying linear regression, the research aimed to examine the combined effect of the independent variables on shaping students' digitally-oriented learning habits. The analysis includes four models. In all four models, the dependent variable is students’ perception of digitally oriented learning. The first model included social background variables; the second model included scholastic background as well. In the third model, the academic background variables were added, and the fourth model includes all the independent variables together with the variable of period (pre- and post-COVID). E. Factor analysis confirms using the principal component method with varimax rotation; the variables were constructed by a weighted mean of all the relevant statements merged to form a single variable denoting a shared content world. The research findings indicate a significant rise in students’ perceptions of digitally-oriented learning in the post-COVID period. From a gender perspective, the impact of COVID on shaping a digital learning pattern was much more significant for female students. The socioeconomic status perspective is eliminated when controlling for the period, and the student’s job is affected - more than all other variables. It may be assumed that the student’s work pattern mediates effects related to the convenience offered by digital learning regarding distance and time. The significant effect of scholastic background on shaping students’ digital learning patterns remained stable, even when controlling for all explanatory variables. The advantage that universities had over colleges in shaping a digital learning pattern in the pre-COVID period dissipated. Therefore, it can be said that after COVID, there was a change in how colleges shape students’ digital learning patterns in such a way that no institutional differences are evident with regard to shaping the digital learning pattern. The study shows that period has a significant independent effect on shaping students’ digital learning patterns when controlling for the explanatory variables.

Keywords: learning pattern, COVID, socioeconomic status, digital learning

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Authors: Maria Antonietta Marongiu

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Propositional information in discourse is made coherent, intelligible, and persuasive through metadiscourse. The linguistic and rhetorical choices that writers/speakers make to organize and negotiate content matter are intended to help relate a text to its context. Besides, they help the audience to connect to and interpret a text according to the values of a specific discourse community. Based on these assumptions, this work aims to analyse the use of metadiscourse in the spoken performance of teachers in online EFL, ESP, and subject-teacher courses taught in English to non-native learners in higher education. In point of fact, the global spread of Covid 19 has forced universities to transition their in-class courses to online delivery. This has inevitably placed on the instructor a heavier interactional responsibility compared to in-class courses. Accordingly, online delivery needs greater structuring as regards establishing the reader/listener’s resources for text understanding and negotiating. Indeed, in online as well as in in-class courses, lessons are social acts which take place in contexts where interlocutors, as members of a community, affect the ways ideas are presented and understood. Following Hyland’s Interactional Model of Metadiscourse (2005), this study intends to investigate Teacher Talk in online academic courses during the Covid 19 lock-down in Italy. The selected corpus includes the transcripts of online EFL and ESP courses and subject-teachers online courses taught in English. The objective of the investigation is, firstly, to ascertain the presence of metadiscourse in the form of interactive devices (to guide the listener through the text) and interactional features (to involve the listener in the subject). Previous research on metadiscourse in academic discourse, in college students' presentations in EAP (English for Academic Purposes) lessons, as well as in online teaching methodology courses and MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) has shown that instructors use a vast array of metadiscoursal features intended to express the speakers’ intentions and standing with respect to discourse. Besides, they tend to use directions to orient their listeners and logical connectors referring to the structure of the text. Accordingly, the purpose of the investigation is also to find out whether metadiscourse is used as a rhetorical strategy by instructors to control, evaluate and negotiate the impact of the ongoing talk, and eventually to signal their attitudes towards the content and the audience. Thus, the use of metadiscourse can contribute to the informative and persuasive impact of discourse, and to the effectiveness of online communication, especially in learning contexts.

Keywords: discourse analysis, metadiscourse, online EFL and ESP teaching, rhetoric

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Authors: Pascal Roubides

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The presentation proposed herein describes a research case study of a hybrid application of the competency-based education model best exemplified by Western Governor’s University, within the general temporal confines of an accelerated (8-week) term of a College Algebra course at the author’s institution. A competency-based model was applied to an accelerated online College Algebra course, built as an Open Educational Resources (OER) course, seeking quantifiable evidence of any differences in the academic achievement of students enrolled in the competency-based course and the academic achievement of the current delivery of the same course. Competency-based learning has been gaining in support in recent times and the author’s institution has also been involved in its own efforts to design and develop courses based on this approach. However, it is unknown whether there had been any research conducted to quantify evidence of the effect of this approach against traditional approaches prior to the author’s case study. The research question sought to answer in this experimental quantitative study was whether the online College Algebra curriculum at the author’s institution delivered via an OER-based competency-based model can produce statistically significant improvement in retention and success rates against the current delivery of the same course. Results obtained in this study showed that there is no statistical difference in the retention rate of the two groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference found between the rates of successful completion of students in the experimental group versus those in the control group.

Keywords: competency-based learning, online mathematics, online math education, online courses

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Authors: Zelalem Markos Borko

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The quality of life of people with blindness is significantly influenced by the level of resilience they possess. A qualitative approach of the descriptive phenomenological design was employed to address basic study objectives. The researcher purposely selected three blind graduate students from Sidist Kilo Campus and conducted a semi-structured interview to gather data. Data were analyzed by using thematic coding techniques. The present study found that personal characteristics such as commitment, living hope, motivation, positive self-esteem, self-confidence, and communication have shaped resiliency for successful university students with visual disabilities. The finding showed that the school environment is the place in which blind students had developed/experienced social, psychological, and economical competency and hope for their academic and entire life success. Furthermore, the finding showed that blind students had experienced individual, family, school, and community-related risks in the success track. Therefore, governmental and non-governmental organizations should provide training for students with visual impairments that focus on the individual traits that shape resilience for academic success, such as commitment, living hope, motivation, positive self-esteem, self-confidence, and communication and also community-oriented training should be to break the social stigma and discriminations for the individuals with the visual impairment.

Keywords: blind students, risk and protective factors, lived experience, success

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Authors: Alireza Jalilifar, Nadia Mayahi

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An oral defense is the examination of a doctoral program in which the candidates display their academic capacity through sharing and disseminating the findings of their study and defending their position. In this challenging criticism-generating context, the examiners evaluate the PhD dissertation critically so as to confirm its scholarly merit or lack of it. To identify the examiners’ expectations of the viva, this study used a conversation analytic approach for analyzing the data. The research is inductive in that it seeks to develop theory that is grounded in the data. The data comprised transcripts of the question and answer section of two applied linguistics doctoral defense sessions from two accredited Iranian state universities in 2019, both of which are among the top Iranian universities on the list of Times Higher Education World University Rankings. In spite of the similar shortcomings and deficiencies, for instance, in terms of innovation, development, sampling, and treatment, raised by the examiners, one of these defenses passed with distinction while the other was referred for re-submission. It seems that the outcome of a viva, in an EFL context, not only depends on adherence to the rules and regulations of doctoral research but is also influenced to a certain extent by the strictness of the examiners and the candidates’ language proficiency and effective negotiation and communication skills in this confrontational communicative event. The findings of this study provide evidence for the issues determining the success or failure of PhD candidates in displaying their claims of scholarship during their defense sessions. This study has implications for both applied linguistics doctoral students and academics in EFL contexts who try to prove and authenticate the doctorateness of a dissertation.

Keywords: academic discourse, conversation analysis, doctoral defense, doctorateness, EFL

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Authors: H. Emari, Z. Emari

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The purpose of this paper is to design an applied framework for strategic thinking which can be applied in all managerial levels and all types of organizational environments. No special applied frame has been presented for this thinking. This paper presents a theoretical framework for the thinking type of a manager by making a historical research and studying the scientific documents about thinking of a strategist. In the new theoretical framework it has been tried to suggest the best type of thinking for a strategist after analyzing the environment of his decisions. So, in this framework, the traditional viewpoint about strategic thinking, which has considered it as a special type of right-brain thinking against other types of right-brain thinking and suggested it for a strategist, was put aside and suggests that the strategist should use a suitable type of thinking under different conditions.

Keywords: strategic thinking, systemic thinking, lateral thinking, intuitive thinking, hybrid thinking

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Authors: Lazzat M. Zhamaliyeva, Nurgul A. Abenova, Gauhar S. Dilmagambetova, Ziyash Zh. Tanbetova, Moldir B. Ahmetzhanova, Tatyana P. Ostretcova, Aliya A. Yegemberdiyeva

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Introduction: There are many reasons for the weak training of family doctors in Kazakhstan: the unified national educational program is not focused on competencies, the role of a general practitioner (GP) is not clear, poor funding for the health care and education system, outdated teaching and assessment methods, inefficient management. We highlight two issues in particular. Firstly, academic teachers of family medicine (FM) in Kazakhstan do not practice as family doctors; most of them are narrow specialists (pediatricians, therapists, surgeons, etc.); they usually hold one-time consultations; clinical mentors from practical healthcare (non-academic teachers) do not have the teaching competences, and the vast majority of them are also narrow specialists. Secondly, clinical sites (polyclinics) are unprepared for general practice and do not follow the principles of family medicine; residents do not like to be in primary health care (PHC) settings due to the chaos that is happening there, as well as due to the lack of the necessary equipment for mastering and consolidating practical skills. Aim: We present the concept of the family physicians’ training office (FPTO), which is being created as a friendly learning environment for young general practitioners and for the involvement of academic teachers of family medicine in the practical work and innovative development of PHC. Methodology: In developing the conceptual framework and identifying practical activities, we drew on literature and expert input, and interviews. Results: The goal of the FPTO is to create a favorable educational and clinical environment for the development of the FM residents’ competencies, in which the residents with academic teachers and clinical mentors could understand and accept the principles of family medicine, improve clinical knowledge and skills, and gain experience in improving the quality of their practice in scientific basis. Three main areas of office activity are providing primary care to the patients, improving educational services for FM residents and other medical workers, and promoting research in PHC and innovations. The office arranges for residents to see outpatients at least 50% of the time, and teachers of FM departments at least 1/4 of their working time conduct general medical appointments next to residents. Taking into account the educational and scientific workload, the number of attached population for one GP does not exceed 500 persons. The equipment of the office allows FPTO workers to perform invasive and other manipulations without being sent to other clinics. In the office, training for residents is focused on their needs and aimed at achieving the required level of competence. International methodologies and assessment tools are adapted to local conditions and evaluated for their effectiveness and acceptability. Residents and their faculty actively conduct research in the field of family medicine. Conclusions: We propose to change the learning environment in order to create teams of like-minded people, to unite residents and teachers even more for the development of family medicine. The offices will also invest resources in developing and maintaining young doctors' interest in family medicine.

Keywords: educational environment, family medicine residents, family physicians’ training office, primary care research

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Authors: Denisa Denglerova, Radim Sip

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Academic sources as well as international agreements and national documents define inclusion in terms of several criteria: equal opportunities, fulfilling individual needs, development of human resources, community participation. In order for these criteria to be met, the community must be cohesive. Community cohesion, which is a relatively new concept, is not determined by homogeneity, but by the acceptance of diversity among the community members and utilisation of its positive potential. This brings us to a central category of inclusion - appreciating diversity and using it to a positive effect. However, school diversity is a real phenomenon, which schools need to tackle more and more often. This is also indicated by the number of publications focused on diversity in schools. These sources present recent analyses of using identity as a tool of coping with the demands of a diversified society. The aim of this study is to identify and describe in detail the processes taking place in selected schools, which contribute to their pro-inclusive character. The research is designed around a multiple case study of three pro-inclusive schools. Paradigmatically speaking, the research is rooted in situational epistemology. This is also related to the overall framework of interpretation, for which we are going to use innovative methods of situational analysis. In terms of specific research outcomes this will manifest itself in replacing the idea of “objective theory” by the idea of “detailed cartography of a social world”. The cartographic approach directs both the logic of data collection and the choice of methods of their analysis and interpretation. The research results include detection of the following sensitive concepts: Key persons. All participants can contribute to promoting an inclusion-friendly environment; however, some do so with greater motivation than others. These could include school management, teachers with a strong vision of equality, or school counsellors. They have a significant effect on the transformation of the school, and are themselves deeply convinced that inclusion is necessary. Accordingly, they select suitable co-workers; they also inspire some of the other co-workers to make changes, leading by example. Employees with strongly opposing views gradually leave the school, and new members of staff are introduced to the concept of inclusion and openness from the beginning. Manifestations of school openness in working with diversity on all important levels. By this we mean positive manipulation with diversity both in the relationships between “traditional” school participants (directors, teachers, pupils) and school-parent relationships, or relationships between schools and the broader community, in terms of teaching methods as well as ways how the school culture affects the school environment. Other important detected concepts significantly helping to form a pro-inclusive environment in the school are individual and parallel classes; freedom and responsibility of both pupils and teachers, manifested on the didactic level by tendencies towards an open curriculum; ways of asserting discipline in the school environment.

Keywords: inclusion, diversity, education, sensitive concept, situational analysis

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Authors: Joseph Abiodun Ayo

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The main purpose of this study was to investigate the science laboratory management practices employed in some colleges of education in Kano State, Nigeria. Four specific objectives were stated to guide the study, four research questions were investigated, four null hypothesis were tested at 0.05 level of significance. A survey design was used and science laboratory management questionnaires which solicit responses that was used in answering the research questions and testing of hypotheses. These questionnaires were distributed to the respective respondents in the sampled colleges. The respondents for the study comprised biology chemistry, physics, integrated science teacher trainers and the paraprofessionals. Data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the questions. Chi-square statistical technique was used to test the hypothesis. The findings of the study revealed that all procedures on control of laboratory activities were rarely observed. Safety procedures were occasionally practiced. On provision and procurement of laboratory equipment and materials it was observed that both academic and the paraprofessional were not fully involved. While maintenance measures were occasionally observed, furthermore science laboratory management procedures are not frequently practiced. Hence making the acquisition of science process skills by students becoming difficult. To arrest these anomalies, it is recommended that direct labor in the maintenance of laboratory equipment and other apparatus by paraprofessional is crucial. Training of academic and paraprofessional through workshops to acquire technical skills in maintenance of science laboratory equipment be instituted to increase professionalism. Periodic supervision of activities in the science laboratories should be done promptly.

Keywords: laboratory, management, standard, facility

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Authors: Wei Bin Shen

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Lou Gang world irrigation project heritage in Taihu Lake is a systematic irrigation project integrating water conservancy, ecology and culture. Through the methods of historical documents and field investigation, this paper deeply analyzes the formation history, connotation and value of Lou Gang polder system: Lou Gang heritage, describes in detail the relationship between Lou Gang polder system in Taihu Lake and the development and evolution of Huzhou City, and initially explores the protection and Utilization Strategies of Lou Gang water conservancy cultural heritage resources in Taihu Lake from the current situation.

Keywords: Lou Gang, protection strategy, urban evolution, waterconservancyculturalheritage

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Authors: Jonathan Glazzard

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National student satisfaction data in England demonstrate that undergraduate students are less satisfied overall with assessment and feedback than other aspects of their higher education courses. Given that research findings suggest that high-quality feedback is a critical factor associated with academic achievement, it is important that feedback enables students to demonstrate improved academic achievement in their subsequent assessments. Given the growing importance of staff-student partnerships in higher education, this research examined students’ perceptions of assessment and feedback in one UK university. Students’ perceptions were elicited through the use of a university-wide survey which was completed by undergraduate students. In addition, three focus groups were used to provide qualitative student perception data across the three university Facilities. The data indicate that whilst students valued detailed feedback on their work, less detailed feedback could be compensated for by the development of pre-assessment literacy skills which are front-loaded into courses. Assessment literacy skills valued by students included the use of clear assessment criteria and assignment briefings which enabled students to fully understand the assessment task. Additionally, students valued assessment literacy pre-assessment tasks which enabled them to understand the standards which they were expected to achieve. Students valued opportunities for self and peer assessment prior to the final assessment and formative assessment feedback which matched the summative assessment feedback. Students also valued dialogic face-to-face feedback after receiving written feedback Above all, students valued feedback which was particular to their work and which gave recognition for the effort they had put into completing specific assessments. The data indicate that there is a need for higher education lecturers to receive systematic training in assessment and feedback which provides a comprehensive grounding in pre-assessment literacy skills.

Keywords: formative assessment, summative assessment, feedback, marking

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