Design and Technology in Malaysian Secondary Schools: A Perspective on Challenges

Design and Technology (D&T) is a relatively new curriculum in Malaysian secondary schools. The basic idea of a design-based curriculum is to facilitate deeper learning for learners to design and develop knowledge and application. However, knowing how design-based education is employed in schools is crucially essential. Therefore, this study aimed to obtain insights into the D&T curriculum implementation from students and teachers’ viewpoints. The study involved semi-structured interviews with four teachers and five secondary school students. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, while conclusions were drawn based on theme analysis. The findings indicated that students and teachers recognised the purpose and direction of the D&T curriculum. Nevertheless, challenges exist in various aspects, as the subject is still in the early implementation stages. Challenges such as teachers’ knowledge and skills, students’ lack of understanding in abstract topics and insufficient facilities, equipment, and resources offer opportunities for researchers to explore relevant approaches to assist teachers and students in teaching and learning. Previous studies demonstrated the effectiveness of technology-assisted interventions to ease and overcome problems involving cost and time constraints. Thus, suitable technology-assisted strategies should be developed and utilised to facilitate the students’ abstract details visualisation in technological application topics.

Preface

Because of the travel restrictions between China and other countries of our keynote speaker, the 9th annual 2021 International Conference on Material Science and Environmental Engineering [MSEE2021] was held on November 27th, 2021 (Virtual Conference). The conference was held via Tencent Meeting Application. MSEE2021 aims to bring researchers, engineers, and students to the areas of Material Science and Environmental Engineering. MSEE2021 features unique mixed topics of Material Science and Advanced Materials, Material Engineering and Application, Environmental Science and Engineering and Mechanical Design and Technology. We received over 197 submissions from various parts of the world. The Technical Program Committee worked very hard to have all manuscripts reviewed before the review deadline. All the accepted papers have been submitted to strict peer-review, and selected based on originality, significance and clarity for the purpose of the conference. The conference program is extremely profound and featuring high-impact presentations of selected papers and additional late-breaking contributions. We sincerely hope that the conference would not only show the participants a broad overview of the latest research results on related fields, but also provide them with a significant platform for academic connection and exchange. There are two keynote speakers and four invited sessions. The keynote speakers are internationally recognized leading experts in their research fields, who have demonstrated outstanding proficiency and have achieved distinction in their profession. The proceedings would be published by IOP Journal of Physics Conference Series. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the members of Technical Program Committee and organizers for their enthusiasm, time, and expertise. Our deep thanks also go to many volunteers and staffs for the long hours and hard work they have generously given to MSEE2021. Last but not least, we would like to thank all the authors, speaker and participants for their great contributions to the success of MSEE2021. MSEE2021 Organizing Committee List of Committee of MSEE2021 are available in this pdf.

Characterization and experimental comparison of commercial PEMFC stacks for marine applications

PEM Fuel Cells are considered among the most promising technologies for hydrogen utilization in both stationary and automotive applications. The number of FC installations on board ships – alone or in hybrid configuration with batteries – is increasing significantly, although international regulations that drive their installation are still missing. In this scenario, the project TecBia aims to identify a dedicated test protocol and the best commercial PEMFC technology for marine applications, assessing the integration of a 140 kW PEMFC system on the Zero Emission Ultimate Ship (ZEUS) vessel. The system design and technology provider has been chosen after a technical comparison based on a dedicated experimental campaign. The experimental campaign had two goals: (i) analyse the performance of the different PEMFC systems to define the best characteristics for maritime applications; (ii) verify the compliance with naval requirements with reference to current and future standards. The present study shows the resulting test protocol for FC Systems (FCS) for maritime applications, defined starting from the existing international regulations on FCS installations and on naval environment requirements; the results of its application on the commercial system chosen for the installation on ZEUS are reported.

Kohti uutta käsityön oppimis- ja työympäristöä

Perusopetuksen käsityön oppiaine on uudistunut opetussuunnitelmallisesti ja käsityön oppimis- ja työympäristöjen tilaratkaisut vaativat uudenlaista pohdintaa. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan käsityötä opettavien opettajien (N = 11) näkemyksiä heidän omiin kokemuksiinsa perustuen. Näkemyksiä taustoitetaan käsityön suunnittelu- ja valmistusprosessin luonteeseen, fyysisen oppimis- ja työympäristön erityispiirteisiin ja tilasuunnittelun periaatteisiin liittyen. Tilasuunnittelussa suunnitellaan ja toteutetaan fyysistä oppimis- ja työympäristöä lähtökohtaisesti pedagogisen suunnitelman pohjalta. Aineistolähtöiseen sisällönanalyysiin perustuen opettajat tarkastelivat käsityön fyysisen oppimis- ja työympäristön kehittämistä tilasuunnittelun osalta kolmen pääluokan avulla: käsityötilojen rakenne ja sijoittuminen, kalusteet ja välineet sekä opettajien osallisuus ja resurssit tilasuunnittelussa. Tutkimuksen tulokset korostavat opettajien osallistumisen tärkeyttä tilasuunnittelussa sen alkuvaiheista lähtien. Opetussuunnitelma vaihtuu kymmenen vuoden välein, mutta käsityön tilasuunnittelun ratkaisut tehdään vuosikymmeniksi. Towards new learning and working environments in Craft, Design and Technology education – Teachers' views on planning and construction Abstract In Finland the curriculum of subject Craft, Design and Technology (CDT) education is renewed and there is a need to reconsider how to plan and construct learning and working environments in the future. This study bases on the CDT education teachers' views (N = 11) on workspace and workshop planning and construction. The content analysis based on interview data revealed that teachers consider space planning construction as a combination of structure and placement in schools, as a combination of equipment, tools and furniture and their own possibilities to participate in the planning process. It would be very important to invite teachers to be part of a space planning and construction process as early as possible to avoid pedagogically fatal mistakes and problems in construction of physical spaces. Keywords: learning and working environment, space planning and contruction, craft design and technology education, basic education

Neuromorphic Memristive Chips: Design and Technology

Memristive neuromorphic chips exploit a prospective class of novel functional materials (memristors) to deploy a new architecture of spiking neural networks for developing basic blocks of brain-like systems. Memristor-based neuromorphic hardware solutions for multi-agent systems are considered as challenges in frontier areas of chip design for fast and energy-efficient computing. As functional materials, metal oxide thin films with resistive switching and memory effects (memristive structures) are recognized as a potential elemental base for new components of neuromorphic engineering, enabling a combination of both data storage and processing in a single unit. A key design issue in this case is a hardware defined functionality of neural networks. The gradient change of resistive properties of memristive elements and its non-volatile memory behavior ensure the possibility of spiking neural network organization with unsupervised learning through hardware implementation of basic synaptic mechanisms, such as Hebb's learning rules including spike — timing dependent plasticity, long-term potentiation and depression. This paper provides an overview of scientific researches carrying out at Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University "LETI" since 2014 in the field of novel electronic components for neuromorphic hardware solutions of brain-like chip design. Among the most promising concepts developed by ETU "LETI" are: the design of metal-insulator-metal structures exhibiting multilevel resistive switching (gradient tuning of resistive properties and bipolar resistive switching are combined together in a sin¬gle memristive element) for further use as artificial synaptic devices in neuromorphic chips; computing schemes for spatio-temporal pattern recognition based on spiking neural network architecture implementation; breadboard models of analogue circuits of hardware implementation of neuromorphic blocks for brain-like system developing.

Modern Aspects of Home Economics Education and Slovenia

Home economics operates in the academic, curriculum and social realms, as well as in everyday life. Due to its multidisciplinarity, it includes and interconnects the contents of different disciplines (e.g., healthy lifestyle, nutrition, dietetics, textiles, home, family, consumption, personal and family economics, design and technology), which are considered in terms of meeting the needs of the individual, family, and society. Home economics education and literacy play an important role in acquiring knowledge and skills that help raise the quality of life of the individual, family, and society. With the development of society, the needs of both the individual and the family are changing; therefore, changes are also needed in home economics education, which is reflected in the updating of the subject curricula. The goals and contents in the curriculum must reflect and meet the needs of the current society and take into account the cultural dependence and social determinism of the home economics field. To a certain extent, the current curriculum of the subject home economics in Slovene elementary schools already includes some content areas that have been recognised as important for meeting the needs of society. These relate to healthy lifestyle, nutrition, health, textiles, consumption, economics, family, environment and sustainable development. Given the perceived needs of society, the use of household appliances, home contents, and first aid should be additionally included in home economics education in Slovenia, and students should be encouraged to develop social and communication skills. It is also necessary to consider the appropriate placement of the subject in the curriculum, as it is necessary to implement home economics education in the entire elementary school education. Doing so will enable the acquisition of knowledge and skills needed in society and, therefore, the appropriate level of home economics literacy of the individual.

Opere moltiplicate, opera aperta Serialità e anonimato nelle ricerche cinevisuali degli anni Sessanta

In the early 1960s, groups of artists begin to develop collective research in kinetic art and visual perception. By combining art, industrial design and technology, these ‘aesthetic operators’ lay the foundations for a multiplied art, made for everybody. The aim of their work is to open art to a genuine democratization process since the viewer would interact with these manipulable objects. However, this point of view questions the art myth of the ‘unique and unrepeatable’ artwork, which is replaced by the ‘open work’, produced in series by an interdisciplinary team. Moreover, the theory of anonymity and the multiples increase the critical debate concerning the concept of authenticity. The paper proposes a reflection on the diffusion of multiplied art during the 1960s. Through the analysis of the archival documents – some previously unpublished – the study identifies the crucial passages in which the experimentations of programmed Italian artists have embraced the democratic ideology of seriality.

DEVELOPMENT OF A CIRCUITRY AND CONSTRUCTIVE-TECHNOLOGICAL BASIS FOR COSMIC CHIPS

The article considers the development of adaptive communication and control systems for space and civil purposes to ensure the reliability of operation and increase the accuracy of control. To ensure the resistance of CMOS BIS to ionizing radiation, methods of implementing the isolation unit, the design and technology of working transistors that ensure high stability of their characteris-tics are used.