I flipped my tutorials: a case study of implementing active learning strategies in engineering

A variety of active learning strategies have been applied to engineering classrooms, including flipping classrooms by recording lectures and having students watch them outside of class time. In this study, a similar approach was used for long-answer problems presented in one-hour tutorial sessions. Problem solutions were recorded and made available online. Instead of solving long-answer problems, tutorials began with a review of relevant material. The review was then followed by independent working time where students were free to interact with the teaching assistant and discuss concepts with one another while working on an online quiz. Students generally responded very positively to the changes and appreciated the ability to go through problem solutions at their own pace with the recordings. In tutorials, the quizzes were successful at encouraging discussion of course content amongst students. The techniques also provided a repository of online videos and quizzes to be used in future course iterations.

INCREASING STUDENT ENGAGEMENT IN CLASS USING AN OPEN-ENDED STUDENT RESPONSE SYSTEM

A student response system (SRS) is an adaptation of audience response system technology for the educational environment, designed specifically to enhance interaction and active participation in class. During the fall 2013 term, an open-ended student response system was used in an undergraduate engineering statistics course. Twenty-eight students (57%) completed an online survey at the end of term. Results suggest that the use of questions with an open response system had a positive impact on student engagement and motivation. The results also provide insights for the implementation of student response systems as a way to prompt student/instructor interaction, students’ active participation, peer instruction and group work during class time.

Peer Review as an Active Learning Strategy in a Large First Year Course

Peer-review of writing is an instructional strategy used to develop students’ critical thinking skills, writing competence and as a way of engaging students as active agents in their learning process [1,3,4]. In the Fall 2013 semester, two peer-review assignments were introduced in a compulsory first year engineering course, Introduction to the Engineering Profession, taken by nearly 500 students (in two sections). The objectives of the peer-review assignments were two-fold: (1) to help improve students’ writing by providing them with constructive criticism and feedback and (2) to develop students’ critical thinking and editing skills. Using a rubric provided by the instructor, students were asked to evaluate their peers’ written assignments in three categories: overall presentation, clarity and coherence (organization), and justification/explanation of the topic being discussed/analyzed. One assignment addressed the inter-disciplinary nature of the engineering profession while the second focused on making ethical decisions. Evaluators were required to justify the score given in each category, as well as to provide a short written comment on the paper as a whole. At the end of term, a class survey was conducted where students reflected on the peer review assignment from a learning perspective. This study presents the results of an analysis of those reflections. Overall, students and the instructor valued this instructional approach. Implications of this type of instructional strategy for undergraduate engineering education are also discussed.

Humans and Water in Desert “Refugium” Areas: Palynological Evidence of Climate Oscillations and Cultural Developments in Early and Mid-Holocene Saharan Edges

Saharan anthropic deposits from archaeological sites, located along wadis or close to lakes, and sedimentary sequences from permanent and dried basins demonstrate that water has always been an attractive environmental feature, especially during periods of drought. This paper reports on two very different examples of Holocene sites where “humans and water” coexisted during dry periods, as observed by stratigraphic, archaeological and palynological evidence. Independent research was carried out on the Jefara Plain (Libya, 32°N) and the Gobero area (Niger, 17°N), at the extreme northern and southern limits of the Sahara, respectively. The histories of the Jefara and Gobero areas, as revealed by the archaeological and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions, suggest that these areas were likely to have been visited and exploited for a long time, acting as anthropic refugia, and therefore they have been profoundly transformed. Human presence and actions have conditioned the local growing of plants and selected a more or less synanthropic flora. Today, modern conservation strategies should take into consideration that water reservoirs, which are crucial for the long-term conservation of biodiversity, have provided refugia in the past just as they presently do under global warming conditions. IANSA 2015 ● VI/2 ● 151–160 Anna Maria Mercuri, Assunta Florenzano, Carlo Giraudi, Elena A. A. Garcea: Humans and Water in Desert “Refugium” Areas: Palynological Evidence of Climate Oscillations and Cultural Developments in Early and Mid-Holocene Saharan Edges 152 This paper reports on two, very different, examples of evidence concerning “humans and water” as observed in the stratigraphic, archaeological and palynological studies carried out on Holocene deposits at the extreme limits of northern and southern Sahara.

Tradycyjny okręg przemysłowy z perspektywy 25-lecia funkcjonowania w gospodarce rynkowej w Polsce. Przykład Górnośląskiego Okręgu Przemysłowego

Głębokie zmiany strukturalne w gospodarce, a szczególnie w przemyśle krajów wysoko rozwiniętych, wywołane przez innowacje technologiczne, organizacyjne oraz globalizację gospodarki, pozostawiły na marginesie światowej ekspansji tradycyjne regiony przemysłowe. Wymagały one całkowitej restrukturyzacji, ponieważ cechowała je monofunkcyjność gospodarki. Do takich regionów zalicza się Górnośląski Okręg Przemysłowy (GOP), którego proces restrukturyzacji rozpoczął się dopiero w okresie transformacji gospodarczej Polski, czyli po roku 1989. W artykule podjęto problematykę funkcjonowania tego największego okręgu przemysłowego w Polsce w okresie 25-lecia gospodarki rynkowej, od roku 1988 do 2013, przy czym analizie poddano najbardziej uprzemysłowioną, centralną część GOP, pretendującą aktualnie do roli metropolii Silesia, a obejmującą 14 miast: Bytom, Chorzów, Dąbrowę Górniczą, Gliwice, Jaworzno, Katowice, Mysłowice, Piekary Śląskie, Rudę Śląską, Siemianowice Śląskie, Sosnowiec, Świętochłowice, Tychy i Zabrze. W artykule skoncentrowano się na zmianach liczby pracujących, zwłaszcza w przemyśle, i określeniu przyczyn tych zmian. Szczegółowej analizie poddano funkcjonowanie tradycyjnych sektorów gospodarki GOP, jak górnictwo węgla kamiennego i hutnictwo żelaza. W kontekście zmniejszającej się roli wymienionych branż w gospodarce regionu podjęto próbę określenia, jakie nowe dziedziny wytwórczości pojawiły się w regionie i czy petryfikują one dotychczasową strukturę, czy też wpływają na jej dywersyfikację.

FACTORS INFLUENCING THE SUCCESS OF HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL IN INDONESIA

A hospital, as a healthcare provider, has a main business process, i.e. to provide the best healthcare services for its customers. Performing a wrong and error work could lead to an irreversible disaster in the issue of the health of patients. Therefore, the work of all staffs in a hospital must be managed according to the principal of correctness, accuracy and timeliness of any information. Hospital information systems (HIS) provide significant information processing for hospitals to manage all the data and information in an accurate and short time way. A hospital that utilizes HMIS is believed to gain more benefits for its patients, staffs and organization itself. However, many hospitals implementing Hospital Information Systems are failed to reap the offered benefits. Many reasons were identified by scholars and one of which raises the necessity for evaluating the systems. This paper presents the evaluation of Hospital Management Information Systems (HMIS) to identify the most influencing factor that leads to a higher net benefits in implementing the HMIS for a hospital. The case study used is the biggest mental hospital in East Java, Indonesia. The result is expected to contribute to add literature on the evaluation of healthcare information systems especially in Indonesia.

Perceptions of Preparedness for Interprofessional Practice: A Survey of Health Professional Students at Three Universities

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate health professions students’ understanding of their own and others’ roles on interprofessional (IP) teams, assess students’ perceptions of their preparedness to practice in an IP team, and determine differences by type of learning institution and participation in interprofessional education (IPE). Methods: Medical, nursing, and pharmacy students at three Ohio universities with unique IP learning models were surveyed. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), chi-square, and two sample t- tests were used to compare measures of knowledge, IPE participation, and preparedness. Results: Of the 981 invited students, 273 completed the survey (27.8% response). Overall, 70.7% of participants felt prepared to work on an IP team. Those who reported participation in IPE were more likely to feel prepared to practice on an IP team compared to those who did not (76.8% [149/194] vs. 55.3% [42/76], p=0.0005). Participation in IPE did not significantly affect knowledge scores (participators 79.6% vs. non-participators 81.0%, p=0.1731). Those who had higher profession-specific knowledge scores were more likely to feel prepared to work with that specific profession. Conclusions: Participation in IPE activities in the representative institutions was high, as was knowledge of professional roles. Both participation in IPE and increased knowledge of roles were associated with increased student-assessed preparedness. Advancement of skills and behaviors including knowledge of roles and other competencies may all be important. Pharmacy in particular should prioritize IPE as a means to elucidate our role on the patient care team.   Type: Original Research

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