Search results for: digital educational resources

Authors: Şule Yanık, Hasan Gürgür

Abstract:

It is thought that it is important for disabled children to have the opportunity to benefit preschool education that smoothens transition process to formal education, and for the constitution of a precondition for their success. Within this context, it is important for the disabled in Turkey to be evaluated medically firstly and then educational-wise in order for them to benefit early inclusive education. Thus, disabled people are both diagnosed in hospitals and at Guidance and Research Centers (GRC) attached to Ministry of Education educational-wise. It is seen that standard evaluation tools are used and evaluations are done by special education teachers (SET) in order for educational diagnosis and evaluation (EDAE) to be realized. The literature emphasizes the importance of informal evaluation tools as well as formal ones. According to this, it is thought that another party, besides students in EDAE process and SETs, is family, because families are primary care takers for their children, and that the most correct and real information can be obtained via families beside results of educational evaluation processes (EEP). It is thought that obtaining opinions of families during EEP is important to be able to exhibit the present EDAE activities in Turkey, materialize any existing problems, and increase quality of the process. Within this context, the purpose of this study is to exhibit experiences regarding EDAE processes of 10 families having preschool children with hearing loss (CHL). The process of research is designed to be descriptive based on qualitative research paradigms. Data were collected via semi-structured interview questions, and the themes were obtained. As a result, it is seen that families, after they realize the hearing loss of their children, do not have any information regarding the subject, and that they consult to an ear-nose-throat doctor or an audiologist for support. It is seen that families go to hospitals for medical evaluation which is a pre-requisite for benefiting early education opportunities. However, during this process, as some families do not have any experience of having a CHL, it is seen that they are late for medical evaluation and hearing aids. Moreover, families stated that they were directed to GRC via audiologists for educational evaluation. Families stated that their children were evaluated regarding language, academic and psychological development in proportion with their ages in GRC after they were diagnosed medically. However, families stated that EEP realized in GRC was superficial, short and lacked detail. It is seen that many families were not included in EEP process, whereas some families stated that they were asked questions because their children are too small to answer. Regarding the benefits of EEP for themselves and their children, families stated that GRC had to give a report to them for benefiting the free support of Special Education and Rehabilitation Center, and that families had to be directed to inclusive education. As a result, it is seen that opinions of families regarding EDAE processes at GRC indicate inefficiency of the process as it is short and superficial, regardless being to the point.

Keywords: children with hearing loss, educational diagnosis and evaluation, guidance and research center, inclusion

Procedia PDF Downloads 233

Authors: Qin Xvelian

Abstract:

organic renewal" based on the development of existing resources in high-density urban areas has become the mainstream of urban development in the new era. As an important stock resource of public space in high-density urban areas, promoting its value remodeling is an effective way to alleviate the shortage of public space resources. However, due to the lack of evaluation links in the process of underpass space renewal, a large number of underpass space resources have been left idle, facing the problems of low space conversion efficiency, lack of accuracy in development decision-making, and low adaptability of functional positioning to citizens' needs. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to construct the evaluation system of under-bridge space renewal potential and explore the renewal mode. In this paper, some of the under-bridge spaces in the main urban area of Chongqing are selected as the research object. Through the questionnaire interviews with the users of the built excellent space under the bridge, three types of six levels and twenty-two potential evaluation indexes of "objective demand factor, construction feasibility factor and construction suitability factor" are selected, including six levels of land resources, infrastructure, accessibility, safety, space quality and ecological environment. The analytical hierarchy process and expert scoring method are used to determine the index weight, construct the potential evaluation system of the space under the bridge in high-density urban areas of Chongqing, and explore the direction of renewal and utilization of its suitability. To provide feasible theoretical basis and scientific decision support for the use of under bridge space in the future.

Keywords: high density urban area, potential evaluation, space under bridge, updated using

Procedia PDF Downloads 67

Authors: Justin D. Olmanson, Katrina S. Kennett, Bill Cope

Abstract:

In the field of education technology, innovation is often tightly coupled to recent technological inventions and emerging technologies. Despite this, some scholars have argued that using established technologies in new pedagogical or curricular ways recasts them and places them once more under the umbrella of emerging education technologies. In this study, we trace how an innovative education technology design emerged, not from a technological breakthrough, but rather via a techno-pedagogical pivot. We describe the design and impact of a digital writing tool created to scaffold student self-evaluation of academic texts. We theorize about and trace how innovation can also emerge from a pivot, namely how leveraging existing practices in new ways can create pedagogically and experientially innovative learning opportunities. After describing the design of Info Writer, we unpack the results of a study based on an implementation the tool, and then theorize and reflect on the way the design process and study findings suggest that pivoting an existing practice can lead to innovative education technology designs.

Keywords: design, education, revision, technology, writing

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: D. S. Fardhyanti, M. Megawati, H. Prasetiawan, U. Mediaty

Abstract:

Currently, fossil fuel is supplying most of world’s energy resources. However, fossil fuel resources are depleted rapidly and require an alternative energy to overcome the increasing of energy demands. Bio-oil is one of a promising alternative renewable energy resources which is converted from biomass through pyrolysis or fast pyrolysis process. Bio-oil is a dark liquid fuel, has a smelling smoke and usually obtained from sugar cane, wood, coconut shell and any other biomass. Sugar cane content analysis showed that the content of oligosaccharide, hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin was 16.69%, 25.66%, 51.27% and 6.38% respectively. Sugar cane is a potential sources for bio-oil production shown by its high content of cellulose. In this study, production of bio-oil from sugar cane bagasse was investigated via fast pyrolysis reactor. Fast pyrolysis was carried out at 500 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C and 1 hour holding time at pyrolysis temperature. Physical properties and chemical composition of bio-oil were analyzed. The viscosity, density, calorific value and molecular weight of produced bio-oil was 3.12 cp, 2.78 g/cm3, 11,048.44 cals/g, and 222.67 respectively. The Bio-oil chemical composition was investigated using GC-MS. Percentage value of furfural, phenol, 3-methyl 1,2-cyclopentanedione, 5-methyl-3-methylene 5-hexen-2-one, 4-methyl phenol, 4-ethyl phenol, 1,2-benzenediol, and 2,6-dimethoxy phenol was 20.76%, 16.42%, 10.86%, 7.54%, 7.05%, 7.72%, 5.27% and 6.79% respectively.

Keywords: bio-oil, pyrolysis, bagasse, sugar cane, gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Ágnes Bogárdi-Mészöly, Takeshi Hashimoto, Shohei Yokoyama, Hiroshi Ishikawa

Abstract:

The spread of Web 2.0 has caused user-generated content explosion. Users can tag resources to describe and organize them. Tag clouds provide rough impression of relative importance of each tag within overall cloud in order to facilitate browsing among numerous tags and resources. The goal of our paper is to enrich visualization of tag clouds. A font distribution algorithm has been proposed to calculate a novel metric based on frequency and content, and to classify among classes from this metric based on power law distribution and percentages. The suggested algorithm has been validated and verified on the tag cloud of a real-world thesis portal.

Keywords: tag cloud, font distribution algorithm, frequency-based, content-based, power law

Procedia PDF Downloads 505

Authors: Krobba Benharzallah, Kenai Said, Bouhicha Mohamed, Lakhdari Mohammed Fatah, Merah Ahmed

Abstract:

In recent years, great interest has been directed towards the use of local materials and natural resources in building and public works. This is to satisfy the enormous need for these materials and contribute to sustainable development. Among these resources, dune sand and limestone crushed sand, which can be an interesting alternative to the replacement of siliceous alluvial sands for the formulation of a repair mortar. The results found show that the particle size correction of dune sand by limestone sand and the addition of a superplasticizer are very beneficial in terms of adhesion and mechanical strength.

Keywords: repair mortar, dune sand, crushed limestone sand, adhesion, mechanical strength

Procedia PDF Downloads 163

Authors: David Kaufman

Abstract:

Despite the ‘silver Tsunami’ that is occurring worldwide, ageism is still a problem in modern society. As well, families are becoming increasingly separated geographically. This paper will discuss these issues and one potential solution - an online escape room game that is played by two players over the internet while talking to each other. The payers can be two seniors or one senior and one youth, e.g., a grandchild. Each player sees a different view of the game environment and players must collaborate in order to solve the puzzles presented and escape from the three rooms, all connected by a maze. The game was developed by Masters students at the Centre for Digital Media in Vancouver, BC in collaboration with a team of post-doctoral scholar, graduate students and faculty member, as well as 10 seniors who assisted. This paper will describe the game, development process and results of our pilot studies. The research study conducted comprises several stages: 1. several formative evaluation sessions with seniors to obtain feedback to assist further design, and 2. field testing of the game. Preliminary results have been extremely positive and results of our field tests will be presented in this paper.

Keywords: digital game, online escape room, intergenerational play, seniors

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Borja Bordel, Ramón Alcarria, Marina Pérez

Abstract:

In March 2020, in Spain, a sanitary and unexpected crisis caused by COVID-19 was declared. All of a sudden, all degrees, classes and evaluation tests and projects had to be transformed into online activities. However, the chaotic situation generated by a complex operation like that, executed without any well-established procedure, led to very different experiences and, finally, results. In this paper, we are describing three experiences in two different Universities in Madrid. On the one hand, the Technical University of Madrid, a public university with little experience in online education. On the other hand, Alfonso X el Sabio University, a private university with more than five years of experience in online teaching. All analyzed subjects were related to computer engineering. Professors and students answered a survey and personal interviews were also carried out. Besides, the professors’ workload and the students’ academic results were also compared. From the comparative analysis of all these experiences, we are extracting the most successful strategies, methodologies, and activities. The recommendations in this paper will be useful for courses during the next months when the sanitary situation is still affecting an educational organization. While, at the same time, they will be considered as input for the upcoming digitalization process of higher education.

Keywords: educational experience, online education, higher education digitalization, COVID, Spain

Procedia PDF Downloads 140

Authors: A. Karunasena, P. Bandara, J. A. T. P. Jayasuriya, P. D. Gallage, J. M. S. D. Jayasundara, L. A. P. Y. P. Nuwanjaya

Abstract:

Usage of smart learning concepts has increased rapidly all over the world recently as better teaching and learning methods. Most educational institutes such as universities are experimenting those concepts with their students. Smart learning concepts are especially useful for students to learn better in large classes. In large classes, the lecture method is the most popular method of teaching. In the lecture method, the lecturer presents the content mostly using lecture slides, and the students make their own notes based on the content presented. However, some students may find difficulties with the above method due to various issues such as speed in delivery. The purpose of this research is to assist students in large classes in the following content. The research proposes a solution with four components, namely note-taker, slide matcher, reference finder, and question presenter, which are helpful for the students to obtain a summarized version of the lecture note, easily navigate to the content and find resources, and revise content using questions.

Keywords: automatic summarization, extractive text summarization, speech recognition library, sentence extraction, automatic web search, automatic question generator, sentence scoring, the term weight

Procedia PDF Downloads 149

Authors: Haowen Xu, Xiaobing Liu, Jin Dong, Jianming Lian

Abstract:

Emerging smart buildings often employ cyberinfrastructure, cyber-physical systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to increase the automation and responsiveness of building operations for better energy efficiency and lower carbon emission. These operations include the control of Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems, which are often considered a major source of energy consumption in both commercial and residential buildings. Developing energy-saving control models for optimizing HVAC operations usually requires the collection of high-quality instrumental data from iterations of in-situ building experiments, which can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. This abstract describes a digital twin approach to automate building energy experiments for optimizing HVAC operations through the design and development of an adaptive web-based platform. The platform is created to enable (a) automated data acquisition from a variety of IoT-connected HVAC instruments, (b) real-time situational awareness through domain-based visualizations, (c) adaption of HVAC optimization algorithms based on experimental data, (d) sharing of experimental data and model predictive controls through web services, and (e) cyber-physical control of individual instruments in the HVAC system using outputs from different optimization algorithms. Through the digital twin approach, we aim to replicate a real-world building and its HVAC systems in an online computing environment to automate the development of building-specific model predictive controls and collaborative experiments in buildings located in different climate zones in the United States. We present two case studies to demonstrate our platform’s capability for real-time situational awareness and cyber-physical control of the HVAC in the flexible research platforms within the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) main campus. Our platform is developed using adaptive and flexible architecture design, rendering the platform generalizable and extendable to support HVAC optimization experiments in different types of buildings across the nation.

Keywords: energy-saving buildings, digital twins, HVAC, cyber-physical system, BIM

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Pieter De Vries, Renate Klaassen, Maria Ioannides

Abstract:

This paper is about an explorative research into the use of emerging technologies for teaching and learning in higher engineering education. The assumption is that these technologies and applications, which are not yet widely adopted, will help to improve education and as such actively work on the ability to better deal with the mismatch of skills bothering our industries. Technologies such as 3D printing, the Internet of Things, Virtual Reality, and others, are in a dynamic state of development which makes it difficult to grasp the value for education. Also, the instruments in current educational research seem not appropriate to assess the value of such technologies. This explorative research aims to foster an approach to better deal with this new complexity. The need to find out is urgent, because these technologies will be dominantly present in the near future in all aspects of life, including education. The methodology used in this research comprised an inventory of emerging technologies and tools that potentially give way to innovation and are used or about to be used in technical universities. The inventory was based on both a literature review and a review of reports and web resources like blogs and others and included a series of interviews with stakeholders in engineering education and at representative industries. In addition, a number of small experiments were executed with the aim to analyze the requirements for the use of in this case Virtual Reality and the Internet of Things to better understanding the opportunities and limitations in the day-today learning environment. The major findings indicate that it is rather difficult to decide about the value of these technologies for education due to the dynamic state of change and therefor unpredictability and the lack of a coherent policy at the institutions. Most decisions are being made by teachers on an individual basis, who in their micro-environment are not equipped to select, test and ultimately decide about the use of these technologies. Most experiences are being made in the industry knowing that the skills to handle these technologies are in high demand. The industry though is worried about the inclination and the capability of education to help bridge the skills gap related to the emergence of new technologies. Due to the complexity, the diversity, the speed of development and the decay, education is challenged to develop an approach that can make these technologies work in an integrated fashion. For education to fully profit from the opportunities, these technologies offer it is eminent to develop a pro-active strategy and a sustainable approach to frame the emerging technologies development.

Keywords: emerging technologies, internet of things, pro-active strategy, virtual reality

Procedia PDF Downloads 191

Authors: Sara M. Ismael, Ali H. Al-Badi

Abstract:

The rapid development and growth of technology has changed the method of obtaining information for educators and learners. Technology has created a new world of collaboration and communication among people. Incorporating new technology into the teaching process can enhance learning outcomes. Billions of individuals across the world are now connected together, and are cooperating and contributing their knowledge and intelligence. Time is no longer wasted in waiting until the teacher is ready to share information as learners can go online and get it immediately. The objectives of this paper are to understand the reasons why changes in teaching and learning methods are necessary, to find ways of improving them, and to investigate the challenges that present themselves in the adoption of new ICT tools in higher education institutes. To achieve these objectives two primary research methods were used: questionnaires, which were distributed among students at higher educational institutes and multiple interviews with faculty members (teachers) from different colleges and universities, which were conducted to find out why teaching and learning methodology should change. The findings show that both learners and educators agree that educational technology plays a significant role in enhancing instructors’ teaching style and students’ overall learning experience; however, time constraints, privacy issues, and not being provided with enough up-to-date technology do create some challenges.

Keywords: e-books, educational technology, educators, e-learning, learners, social media, Web 2.0, LMS

Procedia PDF Downloads 276

Authors: Kenneth Harper

Abstract:

The secure sharing of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) is a critical challenge in modern healthcare, demanding solutions to enhance interoperability, privacy, and data integrity. Traditional standards like Health Information Exchange (HIE) and HL7 have made significant strides in facilitating data exchange between healthcare entities. However, these approaches rely on centralized architectures that are often vulnerable to data breaches, lack sufficient privacy measures, and have scalability issues. This paper proposes a framework for secure, decentralized sharing of EHRs using blockchain technology, cryptographic tokens, and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The blockchain's immutable ledger, decentralized control, and inherent security mechanisms are leveraged to improve transparency, accountability, and auditability in healthcare data exchanges. Furthermore, we introduce the concept of tokenizing patient data through NFTs, creating unique digital identifiers for each record, which allows for granular data access controls and proof of data ownership. These NFTs can also be employed to grant access to authorized parties, establishing a secure and transparent data sharing model that empowers both healthcare providers and patients. The proposed approach addresses common privacy concerns by employing privacy-preserving techniques such as zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs) and homomorphic encryption to ensure that sensitive patient information can be shared without exposing the actual content of the data. This ensures compliance with regulations like HIPAA and GDPR. Additionally, the integration of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) with blockchain technology allows for enhanced interoperability, enabling healthcare organizations to exchange data seamlessly and securely across various systems while maintaining data governance and regulatory compliance. Through real-world case studies and simulations, this paper demonstrates how blockchain-based EHR sharing can reduce operational costs, improve patient outcomes, and enhance the security and privacy of healthcare data. This decentralized framework holds great potential for revolutionizing healthcare information exchange, providing a transparent, scalable, and secure method for managing patient data in a highly regulated environment.

Keywords: blockchain, electronic health records (ehrs), fast healthcare interoperability resources (fhir), health information exchange (hie), hl7, interoperability, non-fungible tokens (nfts), privacy-preserving techniques, tokens, secure data sharing,

Procedia PDF Downloads 22

Authors: Srinivasa Rao Idapalapati, Manssour Habbash

Abstract:

As mobile connectedness continues to sweep across the landscape, the value of deploying mobile technology to the service of learning and teaching appears to be both self-evident and unavoidable. To this end, this study explores the reasons for the reluctance of teachers in Saudi Arabia to use mobiles in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classes for teaching and learning purposes. The main objective of this study is a qualitative analysis of the responses of the views of the teachers at a university in Saudi Arabia about the use of mobile phones in classrooms for educational purposes. Driven by the hypothesis that the teachers in Saudi Arabian universities aren’t prepared well enough to use mobile phones in classrooms for educational purposes, this study examines the data obtained through a questionnaire provided to about hundred teachers working at a university in Saudi Arabia through convenient sampling method. The responses are analyzed by qualitative interpretive method and found that teachers and the students are in confusion whether to use mobiles, and need some training sessions on the use of mobile phones in classrooms for educational purposes. The outcome of the analysis is discussed in light of the concerns bases adoption model and the inferences are provided in a descriptive mode.

Keywords: mobile assisted language learning, technology adoption, classroom instruction, concerns based adoption model

Procedia PDF Downloads 364

Authors: Erwin Stolz, Hannes Mayerl, Anja Waxenegger, Wolfgang Freidl

Abstract:

Research has often found poverty associated with adverse health outcomes, but it is unclear which (interplay of) mechanisms actually translate low economic resources into poor physical health. The goal of this study was to assess the impact of educational, material, psychosocial and behavioural factors in explaining the poverty-health association in old age. We analysed 28,360 observations from 11,390 community-dwelling respondents (65+) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004-2013, 10 countries). We used multilevel growth curve models to assess the impact of combined income- and asset poverty risk on old age frailty index levels and trajectories. In total, 61.8% of the variation of poverty risk on frailty levels could be explained by direct and indirect effects, thereby highlighting the role of material and particularly psychosocial factors, such as perceived control and social isolation. We suggest strengthening social policy and public health efforts in order to fight poverty and its deleterious effects from early age on and to broaden the scope of interventions with regard to psychosocial factors.

Keywords: frailty, health inequality, old age, poverty

Procedia PDF Downloads 333

Authors: Pradip Kumar Das

Abstract:

As the entire world continues its rapid move towards industrialization, it has seriously threatened mankind’s ability to maintain an ecological balance. Geographical and natural forces have a significant influence on the location of industries. Industrialization is the foundation stone of the development of any country, while the unplanned industrialization and discharge of waste by industries is the cause of environmental pollution. There is growing degree of awareness and concern globally among nations about environmental degradation or pollution. Environmental resources endowed by the gift of nature and not manmade are invaluable natural resources of a country like India. Any developmental activity is directly related to natural and environmental resources. Economic development without environmental considerations brings about environmental crises and damages the quality of life of present, as well as future generation. As corporate sectors in the global market, especially in India, are becoming anxious about environmental degradation, naturally more and more emphasis will be ascribed to how environment-friendly the outcomes are. Maintaining accounts of such environmental and natural resources in the country has become more urgent. Moreover, international awareness and acceptance of the importance of environmental issues has motivated the development of a branch of accounting called “Environmental Accounting”. Environmental accounting attempts to detect and focus the resources consumed and the costs rendered by an industrial unit to the environment. For the sustainable development of mankind, a healthy environment is indispensable. Gradually, therefore, in many countries including India, environment matters are being given top most priority. Accounting and disclosure of environmental matters have been increasingly manifesting as an important dimension of corporate accounting and reporting practices. But, as conventional accounting deals with mainly non-living things, the formulation of valuation, and measurement and accounting techniques for incorporating environment-related matters in the corporate financial statement sometimes creates problems for the accountant. In the light of this situation, the conceptual analysis of the study is concerned with the rationale of environmental accounting on the economy and society as a whole, and focuses the failures of the traditional accounting system. A modest attempt has been made to throw light on the environmental awareness in developing nations like India and discuss the problems associated with the implementation of environmental accounting. The conceptual study also reflects that despite different anomalies, environmental accounting is becoming an increasing important aspect of the accounting agenda within the corporate sector in India. Lastly, a conclusion, along with recommendations, has been given to overcome the situation.

Keywords: environmental accounting, environmental degradation, environmental management, environmental resources

Procedia PDF Downloads 343

Authors: Asma Ben Rhouma, Mahmoud Hamouda

Abstract:

The delta inverter is considered as the reduced three-phase dc/ac converter topology. It contains only three two-quadrant power switches compared to six in the conventional one. This reduced power conversion topology is widely considered in many industrial applications, such as electric traction and large photovoltaic systems. This paper is focused on a new sinusoidal pulse width modulation algorithm (SPWM) developed for the delta inverter. As an unconventional inverter’s structure, irregular modulating functions waveforms of the SPWM switching technique are generated. The performances of the proposed SPWM technique was proven through computer simulations carried out on a delta inverter feeding a three-phase RL load. Digital Signal Processor (DSP) implementation of the novel SPWM algorithm have been realized on a laboratory prototype of the delta inverter feeding an RL load and a squirrel cage induction motor. Experimental results have highlighted its high performances under the proposed SPWM method.

Keywords: delta inverter, SPWM, simulation, DSP implementation

Procedia PDF Downloads 164

Authors: Efuwape Bamidele Michael, Efuwape Oluwabunmi Asake

Abstract:

Nigeria has some deep rural environments that seem secluded from most of the technological amenities for convenient living and learning. Most schools in such environments are yet to be captured in the educational applications of technological facilities. The study explores the facilitation of basic technology instructions with micro-learning and gamification among students in rural Junior Secondary Schools in the Ipokia Local Government Area (LGA) of Ogun state. The study employed a quasi-experimental design, specifically the pre-test and post-test control group design. The study population comprised all Junior Secondary School students in the LGA. Four Junior Secondary Schools in the LGA were randomly selected for the study and classified into two experimental and two control groups. A total sample of 156 students participated in the study. Basic Technology Achievement Test and Junior School Students’ Attitudinal Scale were instruments used for data collection in the study with reliability coefficients of 0.87 and 0.83, respectively. Five hypotheses guided the study and were tested using Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study established significant marginal differences in students’ academic performance (F = 644.301; p = .000), learning retention (F = 583.335; p = .000), and attitude towards learning basic technology (F = 491.226; p = .000) between the two groups in favour of the experimental group exposed to micro-learning and gamification. As a recommendation, adequate provisions for inclusive educational practices with technological applications should be ensured for all children irrespective of location within the country, especially to encourage effective learning in rural schools.

Keywords: inclusive education, educational technology, basic technology students, rural areas in Nigeria, micro-learning, gamification

Procedia PDF Downloads 88

Authors: Asim Alsharif, Christophe Pinna, Hassan Ghadbeigi

Abstract:

The development of next-generation advanced high strength steels (AHSS) used in the automotive industry requires a better understanding of local deformation and damage development at the scale of their microstructures. This work is focused on dual-phase DP1000 steels and involves micro-mechanical tensile testing inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) combined with digital image correlation (DIC) to quantify the heterogeneity of deformation in both ferrite and martensite and its evolution up to fracture. Natural features of the microstructure are used for the correlation carried out using Davis LaVision software. Strain localization is observed in both phases with tensile strain values up to 130% and 110% recorded in ferrite and martensite respectively just before final fracture. Damage initiation sites have been observed during deformation in martensite but could not be correlated to local strain values. A finite element (FE) model of the microstructure has then been developed using Abaqus to map stress distributions over representative areas of the microstructure by forcing the model to deform as in the experiment using DIC-measured displacement maps as boundary conditions. A MATLAB code has been developed to automatically mesh the microstructure from SEM images and to map displacement vectors from DIC onto the FE mesh. Results show a correlation of damage initiation at the interface between ferrite and martensite with local principal stress values of about 1700MPa in the martensite phase. Damage in ferrite is now being investigated, and results are expected to bring new insight into damage development in DP steels.

Keywords: advanced high strength steels, digital image correlation, finite element modelling, micro-mechanical testing

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Muhammad Zaman, Guohua Fang, Muhammad Saifullah,

Abstract:

The presented study emphasize at an optimal model to compare past and future optimal hydropower generation. In order to get maximum benefits from the Xin’anjiang hydropower station a model is developed. A Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) has purposed and past and future water flow is used to get the maximum benefits from future water resources in this study. The results revealed that the future hydropower generation is more than the past generation. This paper gives us idea that what could we get in the past using optimal method of electricity generation and what can we get in the future using this technique.

Keywords: PSO, future water resources, optimization, Xin’anjiang,

Procedia PDF Downloads 444

Authors: Micael Sousa

Abstract:

Board games (BGs) are thriving as new designs emerge from the hobby community to greater audiences all around the world. Although digital games are gathering most of the attention in game studies and serious games research fields, the post-digital movement helps to explain why in the world dominated by digital technologies, the analog experiences are still unique and irreplaceable to users, allowing innovation in new hybrid environments. The BG’s new designs are part of these post-digital and hybrid movements because they result from the use of powerful digital tools that enable the production and knowledge sharing about the BGs and their face-to-face unique social experiences. These new BGs, defined as modern by many authors, are providing innovative designs and unique game mechanics that are still not yet fully explored by the main serious games (SG) approaches. Even the most established frameworks settled to address SG, as fun games implemented to achieve predefined goals need more development, especially when considering modern BGs. Despite the many anecdotic perceptions, researchers are only now starting to rediscover BGs and demonstrating their potentials. They are proving that BGs are easy to adapt and to grasp by non-expert players in experimental approaches, with the possibility of easy-going adaptation to players’ profiles and serious objectives even during gameplay. Although there are many design thinking (DT) models and practices, their relations with SG frameworks are also underdeveloped, mostly because this is a new research field, lacking theoretical development and the systematization of the experimental practices. Using BG as case studies promise to help develop these frameworks. Departing from the Design, Experience, and Play (DPE) framework and considering the Common Design Think Tools (CDST), this paper proposes a new experimental framework for the adaptation and development of modern BG design for DT: the Design, Experience, and Play for Think (DPET) experimental framework. This is done through the systematization of the DPE and CDST approaches applied in two case studies, where two different sequences of adapted BG were employed to establish a DT collaborative process. These two sessions occurred with different participants and in different contexts, also using different sequences of games for the same DT approach. The first session took place at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Coimbra in a training session of serious games for project development. The second session took place in the Casa do Impacto through The Great Village Design Jam light. Both sessions had the same duration and were designed to progressively achieve DT goals, using BGs as SGs in a collaborative process. The results from the sessions show that a sequence of BGs, when properly adapted to address the DPET framework, can generate a viable and innovative process of collaborative DT that is productive, fun, and engaging. The DPET proposed framework intents to help establish how new SG solutions could be defined for new goals through flexible DT. Applications in other areas of research and development can also benefit from these findings.

Keywords: board games, design thinking, methodology, serious games

Procedia PDF Downloads 112

Authors: Mohamed Alzarug Aburugba, Rashid Mohamed Eltanashi

Abstract:

Rainwater is considered an essential water resource, as it contributes to filling the deficit in water resources, especially in countries that suffer from a scarcity of natural water sources. One of the important issues facing the Water and Gas Services Department at the Libyan Iron and Steel Company is the large loss of quantities of industrial water, both direct and indirect cooling water (DCW, ICW), produced within the company due to leaks in the cooling systems of the factories of the Libyan Iron and Steel Company. These amounts of polluted industrial water leakage are mixed with rainwater collected by stormwater stations (6 stations) in LISCO, which is pumped to the sea through pumps with a very high flow rate, and thus, this will carry a lot of waste, heavy metals, and oils to the sea, which negatively affects marine environmental resources. This paper assesses the environmental impact of the quantities of rainwater and mixed industrial water in stormwater stations in the Libyan Iron and Steel Company and methods of mitigation, treating pollutants and reusing them as industrial water in the production processes of the steel industry.

Keywords: rainwater, mitigation, impact, sewage, heavy metals, assessment, pollution, environment, natural resources, industrial water.

Procedia PDF Downloads 64

Authors: Subodh Kumar, Amit Varde

Abstract:

Typical on-premises high-performance computing (HPC) environments consist of a fixed number and a fixed set of computing hardware. During the design of the HPC environment, the hardware components, including but not limited to CPU, Memory, GPU, and networking, are carefully chosen from select vendors for optimal performance. High capital cost for building the environment is a prime factor influencing the design environment. A class of software called “Job Schedulers” are critical to maximizing these resources and running multiple workloads to extract the maximum value for the high capital cost. In principle, schedulers work by preventing workloads and users from monopolizing the finite hardware resources by queuing jobs in a workload. A cloud-based HPC environment does not have the limitations of fixed (type of and quantity of) hardware resources. In theory, users and workloads could spin up any number and type of hardware resource. This paper discusses the limitations of using traditional scheduling algorithms for cloud-based HPC workloads. It proposes a new set of features, called “HPC optimizers,” for maximizing the benefits of the elasticity and scalability of the cloud with the goal of cost-performance optimization of the workload.

Keywords: high performance computing, HPC, cloud computing, optimization, schedulers

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Vibeke Sorensen, Nagaraju Thummanapalli, J. Stephen Lansing

Abstract:

Inspired by the indigenous people of Borneo, Indonesia and their traditional bark cloth, artist and professor Vibeke Sorensen executed a “digital unwrapping” of several trees in Southeast Asia using a digital panorama camera and digitally “stitched” them together for printing onto sustainable silk and fashioning into the “Tree Dress”. This dress is a symbolic “un-wrapping” and “re-wrapping” of the tree’s bark onto a person as a second skin. The “digital bark” is directly responsive to the real tree through embedded and networked electronics that connect in real-time to sensors at the physical site of the living tree. LEDs and circuits inserted into the dress display the continuous measurement of the O2 / CO2, temperature, humidity, and light conditions at the tree. It is an “Internet of Living Things” (IOLT) textile that can be worn to track and interact with it. The computer system connecting the dress and the tree converts the gas emission data at the site of the real tree into sound and music as sonification. This communicates not only the scientific data but also translates it into a poetic representation. The wearer of the garment can symbolically identify with the tree, or “become one” with it by adorning its “skin.” In this way, the wearer also becomes a human agent for the tree, bringing its actual condition to direct perception of the wearer and others who may engage it. This project is an attempt to bring greater awareness to issues of deforestation by providing a direct access to living things separated by physical distance, and hopefully, to increase empathy for them by providing a way to sense individual trees and their daily existential condition through remote monitoring of data. Further extensions to this project and related issues of sustainability include the use of recycled and alternative plant materials such as bamboo and air plants, among others.

Keywords: IOLT, sonification, sustainability, tree, wearable technology

Procedia PDF Downloads 138

Authors: Pulkeria Pascoe, Hawa P. Tundui, Marcia Dutra de Barcellos, Hans de Steur, Xavier Gellynck

Abstract:

A majority of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) experience low or no growth. Understanding their performance remains unfinished and disjointed as there is no consensus on the factors influencing it, especially in developing countries. Using a Resource-Based View (RBV) as the theoretical background, this cross-sectional study employed four regression models to examine the influence of firm-level factors (firm-specific characteristics, firm resources, manager socio-demographic characteristics, and selected management practices) on the overall performance variations among 442 Tanzanian micro and small agri-food processing firms. Study results confirmed the RBV argument that intangible resources make a larger contribution to overall performance variations among firms than that tangible resources. Firms' tangible and intangible resources explained 34.5% of overall performance variations (intangible resources explained the overall performance variability by 19.4% compared to tangible resources, which accounted for 15.1%), ranking first in explaining the overall performance variance. Firm-specific characteristics ranked second by influencing variations in overall performance by 29.0%. Selected management practices ranked third (6.3%), while the manager's socio-demographic factors were last on the list, as they influenced the overall performance variability among firms by only 5.1%. The study also found that firms that focus on proper utilization of tangible resources (financial and physical), set targets, and undertake better working capital management practices performed higher than their counterparts (low and average performers). Furthermore, accumulation and proper utilization of intangible resources (relational, organizational, and reputational), undertaking performance monitoring practices, age of the manager, and the choice of the firm location and activity were the dominant significant factors influencing the variations among average and high performers, relative to low performers. The entrepreneurial background was a significant factor influencing variations in average and low-performing firms, indicating that entrepreneurial skills are crucial to achieving average levels of performance. Firm age, size, legal status, source of start-up capital, gender, education level, and total business experience of the manager were not statistically significant variables influencing the overall performance variations among the agri-food processors under the study. The study has identified both significant and non-significant factors influencing performance variations among low, average, and high-performing micro and small agri-food processing firms in Tanzania. Therefore, results from this study will help managers, policymakers and researchers to identify areas where more attention should be placed in order to improve overall performance of MSEs in agri-food industry.

Keywords: firm-level factors, micro and small enterprises, performance, regression analysis, resource-based-view

Procedia PDF Downloads 86

Authors: Erfan Abdeldaim Mohamed Ahmed Abdalla

Abstract:

The era of the knowledge explosion in which we live requires us to develop educational curricula quantitatively and qualitatively to adapt to the twenty-first-century skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, cooperation, creativity, and innovation. The process of developing the curriculum is as significant as building it; in fact, the development of curricula may be more difficult than building them. And curriculum development includes analyzing needs, setting goals, designing the content and educational materials, creating language programs, developing teachers, applying for programmes in schools, monitoring and feedback, and then evaluating the language programme resulting from these processes. When we look back at the history of language teaching during the twentieth century, we find that developing the delivery method is the most crucial aspect of change in language teaching doctrines. The concept of delivery method in teaching is a systematic set of teaching practices based on a specific theory of language acquisition. This is a key consideration, as the process of development must include all the curriculum elements in its comprehensive sense: linguistically and non-linguistically. The various Arabic curricula provide the student with a set of units, each unit consisting of a set of linguistic elements. These elements are often not logically arranged, and more importantly, they neglect essential points and highlight other less important ones. Moreover, the educational curricula entail a great deal of monotony in the presentation of content, which makes it hard for the teacher to select adequate content; so that the teacher often navigates among diverse references to prepare a lesson and hardly finds the suitable one. Similarly, the student often gets bored when learning the Arabic language and fails to fulfill considerable progress in it. Therefore, the problem is not related to the lack of curricula, but the problem is the development of the curriculum with all its linguistic and non-linguistic elements in accordance with contemporary challenges and standards for teaching foreign languages. The Arabic library suffers from a lack of references for curriculum development. In this paper, the researcher investigates the elements of development, such as the teacher, content, methods, objectives, evaluation, and activities. Hence, a set of general guidelines in the field of educational development were reached. The paper highlights the need to identify weaknesses in educational curricula, decide the twenty-first-century skills that must be employed in Arabic education curricula, and the employment of foreign language teaching standards in current Arabic Curricula. The researcher assumes that the series of teaching Arabic to speakers of other languages in regular schools do not address the skills of the twenty-first century, which is what the researcher tries to apply in the proposed unit. The experimental method is the method of this study. It is based on two groups: experimental and control. The development of an educational unit will help build suitable educational series for students of the Arabic language in regular schools, in which twenty-first-century skills and standards for teaching foreign languages will be addressed and be more useful and attractive to students.

Keywords: curriculum, development, Arabic language, non-native, skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 84

Authors: Pattaka Sa-Ngimnet

Abstract:

That the University as we have known it is no longer serving the needs of the vast majority of students and potential students has been a topic of much discussion. Institutions of higher education, in this age of global culture, are in a process of metamorphosis. Technology is being used to allow more students, older students, working students and disabled students, who cannot attend conventional classes, to have greater access to higher education through the internet. But change must come about only after much evaluation and experimentation or education will simply become a commodity as, in some cases, it already has. This paper will be concerned with the meaning and methods of change and evaluation as they are applied to institutions of higher education. Organization’s generally have different goals and different approaches in order to be successful. However, the means of reaching those goals requires rational and effective planning. Any plans for successful change in any institution must take into account both effectiveness and efficiency and the differences between them. “Effectiveness” refers to an adequate means of achieving an objective. “Efficiency” refers to the ability to achieve an objective without waste of time or resources (The Free Dictionary). So an effective means may not be efficient and an efficient means may not be effective. The goal is to reach a synthesis of effectiveness and efficiency that will maximize both to the extent each is limited by the other. This focus of this paper then is to determine how an educational institution can become either successful or oppressive depending on the kinds of planning, evaluating and changes that operate by and on the administration. If the plan is concerned only with efficiency, the institution can easily become oppressive and lose sight of its purpose of educating students. If it is overly concentrated on effectiveness, the students may receive a superior education in the short run but the institution will face operating difficulties. In becoming only goal oriented, institutions also face problems. Simply stated, if the institution reaches its goals, the stake holders may become satisfied and fail to change and keep up with the needs of the times. So goals should be seen only as benchmarks in a process of becoming even better in providing quality education. Constant and consistent evaluation is the key to making all these factors come together in a successful process of planning, testing and changing the plans as needed. The focus of the evaluation has to be considered. Evaluations must take into account progress and needs of students, methods and skills of instructors, resources available from the institution and the styles and objectives of administrators. Thus the role of evaluation is pivotal in providing for the maximum of both effective and efficient change in higher education institutions.

Keywords: change, effectiveness, efficiency, education

Procedia PDF Downloads 320

Authors: Monica Hoeldtke Pietruchinski, Andrey Ricardo Pimentel

Abstract:

The teaching of computer programming for beginners has been presented to the community as a not simple or trivial task. Several methodologies and research tools have been developed; however, the problem still remains. This paper aims to present multi-agent system architecture to be incorporated to the educational collaborative game software for teaching programming that monitors, evaluates and encourages collaboration by the participants. A literature review has been made on the concepts of Collaborative Learning, Multi-agents systems, collaborative games and techniques to teach programming using these concepts simultaneously.

Keywords: architecture of multi-agent systems, collaborative evaluation, collaboration assessment, gamifying educational software

Procedia PDF Downloads 464

Authors: Fátima Gonçalves, Joaquim Brigas, Jorge Gonçalves

Abstract:

The proliferation of mobile devices in society enables the media to disseminate information and knowledge more rapidly. Higher education students access these contents and share them with each other, in the most diverse platforms, allowing the ubiquity in access to information. This article presents the results and respective quantitative analysis of a survey applied to communication students of two higher education institutions: one in Portugal and another in Spain. The results show that, in this sample, higher education students regularly access news content believing traditional news sources to be more credible. Regarding online sources, it was verified that the access was mostly to free news contents. This study intends to promote the knowledge about the changes that occur in the relationship of higher education students with the media, characterizing how news consumption is processed by these students, considering the resulting effects of the digital media evolution. It is intended to present not only the news sources they use, but also to know some of their habits and relationship with the news media.

Keywords: students' perceptions, communication design, mass media, higher education, digital media

Procedia PDF Downloads 247

Authors: Mukesh Kumar, Mahendra Pal Sharma

Abstract:

Depleting fossil fuel resources coupled with serious environmental degradation has led to the search for alternative resources for biodiesel production as a substitute of Petro-diesel. Currently, edible, non-edible oils and microalgal plant species are cultivated for biodiesel production. Looking at the demerits of edible and non-edible oil resources, the focus is being given to grow microalgal species having high oil productivities, less maturity time and less land requirement. Out of various microalgal species, Chlorella protothecoides is considered as the most promising species for biodiesel production owing to high oil content (58 %), faster growth rate (24–48 h) and high biomass productivity (1214 mg/l/day). The present paper reports the results of optimization of reaction parameters of transesterification process as well as the kinetics of transesterification with 97% yield of biodiesel. The measurement of fuel quality of microalgal biodiesel shows that the biodiesel exhibit very good oxidation stability (O.S) of 7 hrs, more than ASTM D6751 (3 hrs) and EN 14112 (6 hrs) specifications. The CP and PP of 0 and -3 °C are finding as per ASTM D 2500-11 and ASTM D 97-12 standards. These results show that the microalgal biodiesel does not need any enhancement in O.S & CFP and hence can be recommended to be directly used as MB100 or its blends into diesel engine operation. Further, scope is available for the production of binary blends using poor quality biodiesel for engine operation.

Keywords: fuel quality, methyl ester yield, microalgae, transesterification

Procedia PDF Downloads 215