Lessons Learned from Using Competency Based Assessment (CBA) in a First Year Engineering Statics Course

During the Fall term of 2020, the first year Statics course in the College of Engineering at theUniversity of Saskatchewan was taught remotely, and synchronously, using a competency-based assessment (CBA) implementation. CBA is commonly used in other professions, especially medical education and teacher education, but it has yet to see widespread use in engineering education.CBA can involve a number of key differences from conventional assessment practices. In this pilot, it involved the following key differences. Whereas previous versions of the course had involved assignments, labs, a midterm, and a final exam, each worth a certain weight in the overallcourse grade, the 2020 CBA version was broken into three modules, each with a “module test”. The module tests were superficially similar to a midterm, and there was no cumulative final exam. Open book assignments, quizzes, labs, and module tests consisted of questions and exercises that addressed a variety of learning outcomes (LOs) within the modules. The LOs were assigned weights in the overall course grade, as opposed to assigning weights to assessments themselves as in a conventional assessment system. Students could therefore overcome poor performances in early assessments of LOs, as better later results on the same LOs would replace the earlier results.A key feature of this approach was that students had at least two and typically three or more opportunities to exhibit competence with respect to the course’s LOs. Another key aspect of this CBA implementation was the division of course material into three levels or “types”. Type A materials were the most basic building blocks of the course i.e. basic definitions, calculations, and concepts. Type B materials were basic integrative problems e.g. solving a basic 2D or 3D particle or rigid body equilibrium question, or solving a basic truss. Type C materials were advanced or “tricky” integrative problems that probed deeper understanding and required more adaptive problem solving. Students were required to meet competency thresholds for Type A and B materials i.e. theyneeded to exhibit a minimal level of competency in the LOs in order to pass the course.Overall, the class excelled in this assessment format and anecdotal evidence suggests that the students enjoyed it. A summary description of the complete system will be presented in this paper, including how grades were determined, how assessments were conducted and evaluated, how LOs were determined, and how the three levels of material were arranged. As well, basic statisticalresults from the class’ performance will be presented, along with a number of observations made by the instructors and some anecdotal impressions conveyed to them by students. The observed outcomes will be compared with the CBA literature for related STEM contexts, although the remote learning/COVID context did obscure the causes and origins of some of the observed outcomes. Changes that will be made in next year’s implementation of the course will also be discussed.

e-Learning Integrated STEM Education Center (eLISE) in Asia: A Reflection Case Study of Taiwan and Vietnam Research Project

Objective:This article describes the implementation plan, advance and future directions of the academic and educational research center eLISE (e-Learning Integrated STEM Education Center) whose foundation intends to narrow the collaboration between Taiwan and Vietnam in e-Learning and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) in the framework of the New Southbound Policy[1], a long-term project announced by the Taiwanese government to strengthen the partnership with South Asian countries. Originality / contribution:This article contributes to the reflection about the promotion of international cooperation in innovation, scientific and technological research as well as the analysis of public policies guided towards e-Learning and STEM innovation. Information collection method / strategies: The stages of the research and innovation process were (1) Innovation e-Learning and STEM Instruction teaching material and module: test application, teacher workshops and interviews (2) Innovation e-Learning and STEM assessment through CloudClassRoom observation with Gamified Electronic Audio Response System and Google Bert. Conclusions: The description of the implementation of eLISE, the explanation of the development of innovative curriculums and teacher workshops, as well as the talent exchange and the cooperation between industry and academy, highlights the importance of cultivate talents and workforces educated through STEM and e-Learning, seeking regional development and prosperity for both, Taiwan and Vietnam. [1] Office of Trade Negotiations, executive Yuan, Bureau of Foreign Trade, T. M. of E. A. New Southbound Policy Guidelines and Action Plan. (Taipei, 2017).

Development and testing of an FPT.AI-based voicebot

In recent years, voicebot has become a popular communication tool between humans and machines. In this paper, we will introduce our voicebot integrating text-to-speech (TTS) and speech-to-text (STT) modules provided by FPT.AI. This voicebot can be considered as a critical improvement of a typical chatbot because it can respond to human’s queries by both text and speech. FPT Open Speech, LibriSpeech datasets, and music files were used to test the accuracy and performance of the STT module. For the TTS module, it was tested by using text on news pages in both Vietnamese and English. To test the voicebot, Homestay Service topic questions and off-topic messages were input to the system. The TTS module achieved 100% accuracy in the Vietnamese text test and 72.66% accuracy in the English text test. In the STT module test, the accuracy for FPT open speech dataset (Vietnamese) is 90.51% and for LibriSpeech Dataset (English) is 0% while the accuracy in music files test is 0% for both. The voicebot achieved 100% accuracy in its test. Since the FPT.AI STT and TTS modules were developed to support only Vietnamese for dominating the Vietnam market, it is reasonable that the test with LibriSpeech Dataset resulted in 0% accuracy.

ALAT PENUNTUN TUNANETRA BAGI PENYANDANG TUNANETRA LINGKUP UNJ BERBASIS ARDUINO DAN KOMPAS

Man was created perfect but in its development are not all born normal. Humans are born so called in need special, special man in need of them is deaf, blind and tunawicara. Required tools that can significantly impact that is guiding the blind tools can serve as a guiding visually impaired in performing daily activities Research methods used in this study i.e. method using RnD. This research was conducted at the University of Jakarta Country in April 2018, testing is done i.e. test modules, test compass GPS module, test module DF Player, and Test the motor gear box DC Based on the results of the research there is a compass that the module obtained different results due to the large number of different metals around testing, testing the GPS module obtained as a result of appropriate coordinates realtime guiding tool for visually impaired the test runs, the Player can function DF module fits well, testing module gear box can function in accordance with the specified distance Abstrak Manusia diciptakan sempurna namun dalam perkembangannya tidak semua terlahir normal. Manusia yang lahir demikian disebut dengan berkebutuhan khusus, manusia berkebutuhan khusus diantaranya adalah tunarungu, tunawicara dan tunanetra. Maka dibutuhkan alat yang dapat berdampak signifikan yaitu alat penuntun tunanetra dapat berfungsi sebagai penuntun tunanetra dalam melakukan aktifitas sehari hari. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini yaitu menggunakan metode RnD. Penelitian ini dilakukan di Universitas Negri Jakarta pada bulan April 2018, Pengujian yang dilakukan yaitu menguji modul kompas, menguji modul GPS, menguji modul DF Player, dan Menguji motor gear box DC Berdasarkan hasil yang penelitian yang didapatkan bahwa modul kompas terdapat hasil yang berbeda beda dikarenakan banyaknya unsur logam disekitaran pengujian, pengujian modul GPS didapatkan hasil kordinat sesuai realtime selama alat penuntun tunanetra berjalan, pengujian modul DF Player dapat berfungsi sesuai dengan baik, pengujian modul gear box dapat berfungsi sesuai dengan jarak yang ditentukan.

Estudio para determinar la capacidad portante del suelo como parámetro geotécnico, aplicando el ensayo de cono dinámico de penetración (DCP), en los terrenos aledaños a la Facultad de Ciencias Matemáticas Físicas y Químicas

The present investigation is based on the development of a study that determines the soil bearing capacity as a geotechnical parameter, applying the DCP penetration dynamic cone test, in the adjacent areas to the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Chemical Sciences. The values obtained from the DCP index correlated with experimental formulas allowed obtaining the soil bearing capacity, also establishing parameters such as grain size, humidity, compaction, Atterberg limits, resilient module regulated by the AASTHO, subsequently characterizing the different samples from the results obtained in the soil mechanics laboratory. When defining the results obtained in the investigation, parameters were determined that detail the composition of the soil at the study site, in which a CBR was obtained categorizing it as “poor to regulate” in terms of the quality of the subgrade. Furthermore, the texture of the material was classified as silt soils from low to high plasticity. Thus, it is proposed to use the information obtained in the investigation for the projection of future civil works that contribute to the integral development of this alma mater. Index Terms- California Support Value (CBR), Dynamic Standard Penetration Cone (DCP), Resilient Module, Test, Subgrade, Pavement.