scholarly journals Enhancing laboratory activity with computer-based tutorials

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Ritchie ◽  
Paul Garner

In a degree course in electronic engineering, great importance is attached to laboratory work, in which students have the opportunity to develop their creative skills in a practical environment. For example, in the first year of the course they are expected to design and test some basic circuits using data available on the characteristics of the semiconductor devices to be used. Many of the students cannot be prepared sufficiently for this activity by attendance at lectures, in which basic principles are expounded to large classes. Firstyear students have widely differing knowledge, experience and ability in circuit design. Therefore, without individual tuition many of them are insufficiently prepared for their laboratory work. Weaker students often neglect to study the laboratory documentation thoroughly in advance and they make poor progress in the laboratory.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030107

Author(s):  
J Mosley

A computer-based system for maintaining cumulative laboratory result records is described. The system is also intended to help in the organisation of laboratory work schedules. The system has been in use for over a year and has proved to be successful in improving the service offered by the laboratory.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 605 ◽  
Author(s):  
CF Chubb ◽  
IC Potter ◽  
CJ Grant ◽  
RCJ Lenanton ◽  
J Wallace

The age structure, growth rates and movements of M. cephalus and A forsteri in the Swan-Avon river system have been investigated using data obtained from beach seining and gill netting carried out between February 1977 and June 1980. Length-frequency data and scale readings show that the populations of both species consist predominantly of 0+ and 1 + fish. From the times when the smallest fry (20-30 mm) were present in the lower part of the river system, and from the condition of the gonads of older fish, the breeding seasons of the sea and yellow-eye mullets have been estimated as extending from March to September and from March to August respectively. The bimodality or polymodality exhibited by the length-frequency distributions for the 0 + year classes suggest that in both species groups of individuals spawn at slightly different times. The range of mean total lengths and weights of animals caught in May near the end of the first year of life was 178-222 mm and 64-119 gin M. cephalus and 136-154 mm and 19-30 g in A. forsteri, which shows that the growth of each of these two species of mullet is relatively very rapid in the Swan-Avon river system. 1 + and 2 + fish tend to leave the estuary for varying periods. Although 0+ fish of both species utilized the shallow banks of the estuary throughout the year. the sea mullet moved further upstream and were not as consistently abundant in the lower estuary. Since 0+ yellow-eye mullet 40-100 mm long were also abundant in marine coastal waters between January and May. and sea mullet of comparable age were rarely observed in these regions, it would appear that M. cephalus is the more estuarine-dependent of the two species. Commercial catches of M. cephalus were greater than those of A. forsteri. This feature can be related in part to the much faster growth rate of M. cephalus, which results in a larger proportion of its youngest year classes reaching the minimum legal size for capture prior to the time when they leave the estuary in large numbers.


2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cecília Khusala Verardi ◽  
Erivaldo José Scaloppi Junior ◽  
Guilherme Augusto Peres Silva ◽  
Lígia Regina Lima Gouvêa ◽  
Paulo de Souza Gonçalves

The objective of this work was to assess the genetic parameters and to estimate genetic gains in young rubber tree progenies. The experiments were carried out during three years, in a randomized block design, with six replicates and ten plants per plot, in three representative Hevea crop regions of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Twenty-two progenies were evaluated, from three to five years old, for rubber yield and annual girth growth. Genetic gain was estimated with the multi-effect index (MEI). Selection by progenies means provided greater estimated genetic gain than selection based on individuals, since heritability values of progeny means were greater than the ones of individual heritability, for both evaluated variables, in all the assessment years. The selection of the three best progenies for rubber yield provided a selection gain of 1.28 g per plant. The genetic gains estimated with MEI using data from early assessments (from 3 to 5-year-old) were generally high for annual girth growth and rubber yield. The high genetic gains for annual girth growth in the first year of assessment indicate that progenies can be selected at the beginning of the breeding program. Population effective size was consistent with the three progenies selected, showing that they were not related and that the population genetic variability is ensured. Early selection with the genetic gains estimated by MEI can be made on rubber tree progenies.


Author(s):  
William Bart

The purpose of this study was to explore how undergraduate university students react to chess instruction. Certain patterns emerged from 10 offerings of a Freshman Seminar entitled “Beginners’ Chess and 21st Century Thinking Skills”. The course enrolled only first-year and second-year undergraduate students at a large public state university in the USA. The students tended to have little or no knowledge of chess prior to the course. The course made extensive use of chess-related websites available on the Internet such as chess.com, lichess.org, and chessgames.com. The instruction involved the projection of a chess-related website projected onto a large classroom screen with the use of an instructor’s computer connected to a projector that projected the computer-based image onto the screen. The course had 10-20 students in each annual offering of the course that lasted 15 weeks. The student evaluations of the course were very positive, indicating that the students enjoyed the course very much. The course involved instruction in chess on topics such as tactics and basic checkmates along with instruction on the cognitive psychological foundations of chess on topics such as problem solving and critical thinking. The primary task in the course was that each student had to prepare a critical evaluation of two of their own chess games that included correct usage of proper algebraic notation for the chess moves. The chess activity that the students enjoyed the most was group competition.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vivien Challis ◽  
Roger Cook ◽  
Pranit Anand

This paper outlines an initiative that involved implementing ‘Numbas’ as a computer-based tool to support mathematics learning. ‘Numbas’ was implemented within the existing learning management system at Queensland University of Technology, where students engaged in formative assessment activities independently and were provided with automated feedback along the way. An initial evaluation was undertaken by learning designers using the ‘Assessment Design Decisions Framework’, and although more rigorous evaluation is underway, results indicate positive outcomes, and appropriate adjustment is likely to be made before rolling it out to other units within the School of Mathematical Sciences. This paper will be of interest to other educators looking for ways to embed independent computer-aided learning of mathematics.


Author(s):  
David L. Neumann ◽  
Michelle M. Neumann ◽  
Michelle Hood

<span>The discipline of statistics seems well suited to the integration of technology in a lecture as a means to enhance student learning and engagement. Technology can be used to simulate statistical concepts, create interactive learning exercises, and illustrate real world applications of statistics. The present study aimed to better understand the use of such applications during lectures from the student's perspective. The technology used included multimedia, computer-based simulations, animations, and statistical software. Interviews were conducted on a stratified random sample of 38 students in a first year statistics course. The results showed three global effects on student learning and engagement: showed the practical application of statistics, helped with understanding statistics, and addressed negative attitudes towards statistics. The results are examined from within a blended learning framework and the benefits and drawbacks to the integration of technology during lectures are discussed.</span>


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 00088
Author(s):  
Zinaida Kuznetsova ◽  
Aleksey Chaban ◽  
Larisa Kotkova ◽  
Ruslan Miftakhov ◽  
Stanislav Kuznetsov

Cadets’ weapons practice is one of the important components of professional training. Its success is in the training hours’ distribution and mastering the main tasks at the early stages of military training. The correct distribution of weapon practice means and methods is very important. Planning of all weapon practice means begins with the definition of conditions and logistics. It is important to implement the principles of sports training. The implementation of the sports training basic principles during the school year allows expanding the cadets ’ body adaptation mechanisms to daily physical and mental stress. The development of innovative technologies for planning hours and the implementation of weapon practice tools allows to optimize and improve the effectiveness of cadets’ military training from the first year. Methodological aspects of planning and calculating hours by types of cadets’ weapon practice are presented, taking into account the tasks and direction of the training tools implementation. Difficulties are analyzed and ways to eliminate them in the process of improving the cadets weapon practice are found. The key tasks in the structure of weapon practice and the direction of their implementation are defined. The author’s version of cadets’ weapon practice planning allows to control and adjust both physical and mental loads.


Author(s):  
Valentina V. Kuzlyakina ◽  
Marina V. Nagaeva

Laboratory work is an important element in engineering training, which should correspond to up-to-date tendencies in computer-based technologies in design, production, maintenance and preserving mechanisms. Computer-based laboratory work consists of 16 assignments. Seven assignments are carried out on laboratory stands, the remainder are provided on PC, using programs like “Visual Structure Editor”, “DYNAMO”, “APM Win Machine”. The system Visual Structure Editor (VSE) is designed by specialists of “Machine Mechanics and Computer-Aided Design” department, of the Maritime State University named after adm.G.I.NEVELSKOY, Vladivostok, under the direction of prof. Valentina V. Kuzlyakina. The system APM (Automated Projecting of Mechanism) is designed by the research-and-production centre “APM” under the direction of prof.V.Shelofast, from the city of Korolyov, Moscow area. These systems are multifunctional. They allow project different mechanical systems at the stage of structural and parametrical synthesis, carry out strength calculations and design elements of machines and mechanisms. They are good in operation. Teachers and students easily master the systems. Laboratory works with computer support allow students to pass from a concrete object to modeling on a PC, and to solve complex engineering tasks during the education process.


Gut ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (10) ◽  
pp. 1778-1786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bossuyt ◽  
Hiroshi Nakase ◽  
Séverine Vermeire ◽  
Gert de Hertogh ◽  
Tom Eelbode ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe objective evaluation of endoscopic disease activity is key in ulcerative colitis (UC). A composite of endoscopic and histological factors is the goal in UC treatment. We aimed to develop an operator-independent computer-based tool to determine UC activity based on endoscopic images.MethodsFirst, we built a computer algorithm using data from 29 consecutive patients with UC and 6 healthy controls (construction cohort). The algorithm (red density: RD) was based on the red channel of the red-green-blue pixel values and pattern recognition from endoscopic images. The algorithm was refined in sequential steps to optimise correlation with endoscopic and histological disease activity. In a second phase, the operating properties were tested in patients with UC flares requiring treatment escalation. To validate the algorithm, we tested the correlation between RD score and clinical, endoscopic and histological features in a validation cohort.ResultsWe constructed the algorithm based on the integration of pixel colour data from the redness colour map along with vascular pattern detection. These data were linked with Robarts histological index (RHI) in a multiple regression analysis. In the construction cohort, RD correlated with RHI (r=0.74, p<0.0001), Mayo endoscopic subscores (r=0.76, p<0.0001) and UC Endoscopic Index of Severity scores (r=0.74, p<0.0001). The RD sensitivity to change had a standardised effect size of 1.16. In the validation set, RD correlated with RHI (r=0.65, p=0.00002).ConclusionsRD provides an objective computer-based score that accurately assesses disease activity in UC. In a validation study, RD correlated with endoscopic and histological disease activity.


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