scholarly journals MASSIVE OPEN ONLINE COURSES CAMPS: BEFORE AND DURING THE PANDEMIC

Author(s):  
Janaina Cardoso ◽  

MOOC Camps have been used as a successful blended alternative to more traditional MOOCs (totally online). A “camp” here means “an informal gathering of learners working together to discuss new ideas and concepts” (Sowell, 2019). MOOC Camps combine the positive aspects of MOOCs, such as high-quality of professional development and low cost for participants with the advantages of using the “camps”, such as adaptation to the local context and a simpler way of promoting interaction among participants, who consequently feel highly motivated to complete the online course (Cardoso, 2020). The aim of this presentation is to consider the effects of the physical distance imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the MOOC Camps been offered by an extension and research project developed at a public university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CEALD/UERJ) in partnership with the American Government (RELO-Brazil) since 2019. The main objectives of these MOOC camps are: (a) to promote language and methodology development; and (b) to build stronger communities of teachers and teachers-to-be, by giving them the opportunity of sharing their experiences. However, in 2020, due to the pandemic, the camp had to be adapted to a remote mode, using a web-conference platform. Therefore, this action-research study compares and contrasts the MOOC Camp participants’ feedback given before the pandemic with their responses to the activities developed during the pandemic. In this way, the idea is to understand how the adaptations we were forced to make have influenced the development of the camps and possibly affected participants’ interest. The discussion considers some of the advantages and drawbacks of adopting the remote mode for the camps, and a better understanding of some theoretical concepts, such as: blended learning (Gruba et al., 2016); blended MOOCs (Albó et al., 2015; Orsini-Jones, 2018, 2019), online interaction (Silva, 2014), and education in the pandemic context (Liberali, 2020).

Author(s):  
Ana Branca Carvalho ◽  
Fernanda Nogueira

This chapter aims to contribute to the literature and aid in developing a theoretical and practical framework in the area of organization and human resource. With contributions and research from different perspectives, this paper is an essential source for students, researchers and managers in the franchising chains. There has been an increased interest in human resources problems and in new forms of organizations. The concept of Trust can be combined to satisfy the needs of people seeking better quality-of-life. This analyzes the problems of human resources management features of franchising chain business management. The franchising chains involve two aspects: the relation based in trust and a group that develops an innovation idea. It contributes to economic growth, as a pillar to support other complementary activities with a low cost. This system contributes to employment growth and regional wealth, contributes to new ideas helps create new services with high value, promotes establishment of international cooperation networks, and yields a number of additional benefits.


Author(s):  
Katiane Pereira da Silva ◽  
Enoque Coutinho dos Santos ◽  
Ramildo Felipe Silva Gonçalves ◽  
Antonio Thiago Madeira Beirão ◽  
Fábio Israel Martins Carvalho ◽  
...  

This study aims to develop a low-cost prototype to measure the mass and volumetric flow rate of fluids through the construction of a Pitot Tube. This meter must be able to measure the mass flow rate of air for different pressure values using only the water height level variation. For the development of the prototype, low-cost materials were used, in addition to some necessary tools. These experimental models are a didactic proposal for teaching and learning about the flow of fluids discipline, where it was verified that the experimental values found presented satisfactory results correlated with the theoretical concepts of an ideal fluid present in the literature. Thus, the Bernoulli and Torricelli equations were applied to assess the quality of the measurement method, to facilitate the learning of undergraduate students in the Production Engineering Course through conciliation between theory and practice in the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory discipline classes. Finally, the prototype experiment was exposed to other students at the institutional event called “I Integrar Produção” held by UFRA at the Parauapebas Campus.


2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 91-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Pizarek ◽  
Valeriy Shafiro ◽  
Patricia McCarthy

Computerized auditory training (CAT) is a convenient, low-cost approach to improving communication of individuals with hearing loss or other communicative disorders. A number of CAT programs are being marketed to patients and audiologists. The present literature review is an examination of evidence for the effectiveness of CAT in improving speech perception in adults with hearing impairments. Six current CAT programs, used in 9 published studies, were reviewed. In all 9 studies, some benefit of CAT for speech perception was demonstrated. Although these results are encouraging, the overall quality of available evidence remains low, and many programs currently on the market have not yet been evaluated. Thus, caution is needed when selecting CAT programs for specific patients. It is hoped that future researchers will (a) examine a greater number of CAT programs using more rigorous experimental designs, (b) determine which program features and training regimens are most effective, and (c) indicate which patients may benefit from CAT the most.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Alden

The use of team projects has been shown to be beneficial in higher education. There is also general agreement that team efforts should be assessed and that the grading ought to represent both (1) the quality of the product developed jointly by the team as well as (2) the degree of participation and quality of contribution by each individual student involved in the group process. The latter grading requirement has posed a challenge to faculty so the question addressed in this paper is “How should individual team members in online courses be assessed for the extent and quality of their contributions to the group project?” To answer this question, four common team member evaluation practices were reviewed and compared to seven criteria representing positive attributes of an assessment practice in an online learning environment. Whereas the Peer Assessment practice received the greatest support in the literature in face-to-face courses, this study that considered the perceptions of graduate faculty and students recommended the Faculty Review practice as the default assessment


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Kao ◽  
Che-I Kao ◽  
Russell Furr

In science, safety can seem unfashionable. Satisfying safety requirements can slow the pace of research, make it cumbersome, or cost significant amounts of money. The logic of rules can seem unclear. Compliance can feel like a negative incentive. So besides the obvious benefit that safety keeps one safe, why do some scientists preach "safe science is good science"? Understanding the principles that underlie this maxim might help to create a strong positive incentive to incorporate safety into the pursuit of groundbreaking science.<div><br></div><div>This essay explains how safety can enhance the quality of an experiment and promote innovation in one's research. Being safe induces a researcher to have <b>greater control</b> over an experiment, which reduces the <b>uncertainty</b> that characterizes the experiment. Less uncertainty increases both <b>safety</b> and the <b>quality</b> of the experiment, the latter including <b>statistical quality</b> (reproducibility, sensitivity, etc.) and <b>countless other properties</b> (yield, purity, cost, etc.). Like prototyping in design thinking and working under the constraint of creative limitation in the arts, <b>considering safety issues</b> is a hands-on activity that involves <b>decision-making</b>. Making decisions leads to new ideas, which spawns <b>innovation</b>.</div>


Author(s):  
T. N. Antipova ◽  
D. S. Shiroyan

The system of indicators of quality of carbon-carbon composite material and technological operations of its production is proved in the work. As a result of the experimental studies, with respect to the existing laboratory equipment, the optimal number of cycles of saturation of the reinforcing frame with a carbon matrix is determined. It was found that to obtain a carbon-carbon composite material with a low cost and the required quality indicators, it is necessary to introduce additional parameters of the pitch melt at the impregnation stage.


Author(s):  
Pierpaolo Vittorini ◽  
Stefano Menini ◽  
Sara Tonelli

AbstractMassive open online courses (MOOCs) provide hundreds of students with teaching materials, assessment tools, and collaborative instruments. The assessment activity, in particular, is demanding in terms of both time and effort; thus, the use of artificial intelligence can be useful to address and reduce the time and effort required. This paper reports on a system and related experiments finalised to improve both the performance and quality of formative and summative assessments in specific data science courses. The system is developed to automatically grade assignments composed of R commands commented with short sentences written in natural language. In our opinion, the use of the system can (i) shorten the correction times and reduce the possibility of errors and (ii) support the students while solving the exercises assigned during the course through automated feedback. To investigate these aims, an ad-hoc experiment was conducted in three courses containing the specific topic of statistical analysis of health data. Our evaluation demonstrated that automated grading has an acceptable correlation with human grading. Furthermore, the students who used the tool did not report usability issues, and those that used it for more than half of the exercises obtained (on average) higher grades in the exam. Finally, the use of the system reduced the correction time and assisted the professor in identifying correction errors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7469
Author(s):  
Gratiela Dana Boca

Universities around the world have faced a new pandemic, forcing the closure of campuses that are now conducting educational activities on online platforms. The paper presents a survey about students behavior and attitudes towards online education in the pandemic period from the Technical University of Cluj Napoca, Romania. A group of 300 students participated. The questionnaire was structured in four parts to determine student’s individual characteristics, student’s needs, students’ knowledge in using virtual platforms and students’ quality preferences for online education. The students said that online education in a pandemic situation is beneficial for 78% of them. A total of 41.7% percent of students appreciated the teachers’ teaching skills and the quality of online courses since the beginning of the pandemic, and 18.7% percent of the students appreciated the additional online materials for study to support their education. However, students found online education stressful, but preferred online assessment for evaluation. This pandemic has led to the new stage of Education 4.0, online education, and the need to harmonize methods of education with the requirements of new generations.


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