VIRTUAL LABORATORIES AS STRATEGY FOR TEACHING IMPROVEMENT IN MATH SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING IN BOLIVIA

The vertiginous technological advancement has made necessary the use of computersoftware that contributes to the improvement of teaching in math sciences and engineering.It is in this context that the last five years the strategy presented in this article has been disseminatedin the main universities of Bolivia, a country where the schools have not yet been ableto offer basic disciplines such as calculus, matrix algebra, physics and/or differential equationsto solve problems considering applicative aspects. To establish this connection, it is necessaryto deduce differential equations associated with practical problems, solve these equationswith different numerical algorithms, and establish the concept of simulation to later introducelanguages like Python/VPython free of license to elaborate Virtual Laboratories that allow obtainingthe solutions in two and three dimensions. The classical problems addressed for thispurpose are the satellite of two degrees of freedom and the inverted pendulum.

Developing systems thinking in a Project-Based Learning environment

As science and engineering projects are becoming increasingly more complex, sophisticated, comprehensive and multidisciplinary, there is a growing need for systems thinking skills to ensure successful project management. Systems thinking plays a major role in the initiation, effective management, and in facilitating inter-organizational tasks. This research assesses the capacity for engineering systems thinking and its contribution in carrying out a multidisciplinary project. The research also reviews the cognitive process through which systems thinking skill is acquired. The study focused on a group of students who have completed their senior design projects in high-tech industry, while their plans were being integrated into existing larger projects in the respective industrial sites. The systems thinking skill of the students was examined according to a questionnaire for assessing the Capacity for Engineering Systems Thinking (CEST). Statistical analysis shows significant differences in the students capacity for systems thinking at the beginning and end of the work (p<0.001). This research demonstrates that systems thinking skills can be improved through awareness and involvement in multidisciplinary projects.

Distributed Cat Modeling Based Agile Framework for Software Development

Software development is a hectic process that requires keen understanding and effective model such that the developed software inherits good quality, reliability, and achieves customer satisfaction towards achieving the goals effectively. The effective operation of the software is enabled by modifying the operating modules of the software through a model, like agile. In this paper, the catastrophic and distributed computing models are integrated into the software development step. The proposed model is termed as Distributed Cat model that is developed with the aim to handle the risk factors engaged in various developing stages of the agile model. The risk factors that affect the communication, planning, release, design, coding and testing modules of the agile modules are deeply learned and executed such that the risk factors are tackled by various modules present in the proposed Distributed Cat model. The effectiveness of the proposed model is analyzed based on the performance metrics, such as Index of Integration (IoI) and Usability Goals Achievement Metric (UGAM), for which five products including the hotel management system, Customer relationship Management system (CRM), Rainfall prediction system, Temperature monitoring system, and meta-search system, are employed and analyzed. The analysis is progressed using the parameters, like mean difference, variance, standard devaiation, correlation. The analysis proves that the proposed model offered a great deviation after applying the proposed model contributing a high degree of performance in software development.

Development of a Game-Based e-Learning System with Augmented Reality for Improving Students’ Learning Performance

Currently, the school children usually spend a lot of time on the games in their recreational activities and some of them are even addicted to the games. Compared with other extracurricular activities, the e-Learning system reflects the fact that school children are very interested in the games. As a result, educators have lately craved to develop effective teaching activities that allow the school children to learn some subjects and to play the games simultaneously. Therefore, this study is based on an e-Learning system which combines the serious game by Unity3D Game Engine with augmented reality (AR). Students are able to acquire their knowledge and to foster logical skills via this game-based e-Learning system. According to its efficacy and utilities, this study has assessed and compared the game-based e-Learning system with the traditional learning and other e-Learning systems. The experimental results have indicated that the proposed game-based e-Learning system can outperform other existing systems.

THE ANALYSIS IS FOR THE DESIGN OF DIFFERENT CLUB FACE’S THICKNESSES OF FAIRWAY WOOD TO THE CHARACTERISTIC TIME

Background: The main factors to influence on the stroking performance of club head are alloy and spring-like effect. Design the structure of new club face to create the fairway wood which can show best stroking feeling and let driving distance become longer. Purpose: The club face of fairway wood is processed through the iron alloy heating procedure and CNC to innovate the club head with high spring-like effect (characteristic time). Method: (1) Use 455 stainless steel processed by heating and aging treatment, to do the analysis on microstructure and mechanical properties. (2) Through CNC to design seven different patterns for the back of club face, each pattern for three club head. The total amount is twenty-one. (3) Make finished product be test the characteristic time and the ability of strike by the practical measurement. (4) To analyze after the compare between three-way ANOVA and LSD. Results: After 455 stainless steel was heated in procedure S850℃-A550℃, mechanical properties became superior and had the better malleability, it is suitable for developing the club face of high spring-like effect. Before and after grinding among three-way ANOVA (pattern*thickness*place), did not achieve the significant level on the figure of characteristic time. Through two-way ANOVA (pattern*place and thickness*place), showed the significant deviation before and after grinding. After doing the crash test by 45m/s, all the results can reach the higher limited standard. Summary: 455 stainless steel was designed with the different club face’s thicknesses of fairway wood can make spring-like effect achieve high characteristic time. The much thinner club face let the characteristic time perform highly. But there was no obvious effects from the patterns of the back club face.

Predictive analysis of instruction in science to students’ declining in-terest in science-An analysis of gifted students of sixth - and seventh-grade in Taiwan

Students’ interest in science declines substantially in the transition from elementary to secondary education. Using students’ ratings of their instruction on the topic of oxidation-reduction reaction, we examined if changes in instructional practices accounted for differences in situational interest in science imagination instruction and enduring individual interest in science imagination between elementary and secondary school classrooms. Multilevel regression analyses were conducted for a sample of 162 sixth - and 161 seventh-grade gifted classrooms. The use of student experiments, the elicitation of student explanations, and lack of clarity accounted to varying degrees for disparities in science interest between grade levels. The impact of instructional practices on individual interest was mediated by situational interest.

Direct Instruction vs. Computer Simulation and their Learning Outcome in Engineering Education

Answers to the questions of which instructional methods are suitable for school, what instructional methods should be applied in teaching individual subjects and how instructional methods support the act of learning represent challenges to general education and education in individual subjects. This study focuses on the empirical examination of learning outcome in engineering educationwith respect to two instructional methods: direct instruction and computer simulation. A CRF 2x2 design is used to control instructional method and class context. Learning outcome on bridge construction is assessed with reference to the optics of bridge and the material usage for the bridge. The empirical findings show that learning with direct instruction was superior to computer simulation.

CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN STUDIES ON MOBILE LEARNING OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES: A META-ANALYSIS.

Previous research has provided a review of the literature on the state of research on mobile learning, but the use of m-learning and MALL to formal and informal learning of foreign languages needs further study. The need to review the language learning assisted by mobile devices emerges from a globalized context, in which pedagogy must question itself to plan and design research drawings in which mobile learning assumes a fundamental importance in teaching practice aimed above all at new generations of students.This study adopts a meta-analysis approach to systematically review the literature, thus providing a more complete analysis and synthesis of 83 studies from 2009 to 2018. Previous studies focus on the effectiveness and design of the mobile learning system.The search for databases and citations was performed by limiting the keywords referring to m-learning and to MALL. Compared to existing reviews, the results confirm revealing a skill-based approach to language learning with an emphasis on vocabulary, learning factors that influence students' perceptions and availability to use new cellular technologies.

Road Transport Accident Analysis from A System-Based Accident Analysis Approach Using Swiss Cheese Model

Road safety has become a major concern to both developed and developing countries due to its negative economic impacts. Although, numerous approaches of accident analysis have been conducted, there seem to be an increase in road crashes every year. The main aim of this study is to analyse a driving school accident using a system-based accident analysis approach. The data for the study was collected using an interview. A Swiss Cheese Accident Causation Model was used to identify the factors that contributed to the accident. The study identified four weaknesses in the system defences of the driving school that created a possible accident trajectory. It is concluded that adopting system-based accident analysis approach in analysing road transport accidents, could lead to a greater understanding of latent conditions and road user error, which in turn could inform the development of intervention strategies within a road transport domain as suggested by other studies. Finally, the short falls of using only person approach of accident analysis in road transport domain are also highlighted.

Theoretical Perspectives and Current Challenges of Outcome-Based Education Framework

Outcome-Based education is a performance-based approach for the curriculum development, a future-oriented learner-centered ‘Empowerment Paradigm’ that empowers and endorses all learners with future success. It is an influential and tempting way of restructuring and reorganizing engineering education. Washington Accord, an International accreditation convention, an independent agreement between signatory organizations to provide an external accreditation to undergraduate engineering programs. The accredited engineering programs that qualify an engineer to enter into the practice of professional engineers are equally recognized and acknowledged by other signatory countries and responsible organizations Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) is a full signatory to the Washington Accord and a regulatory organization for the accreditation of engineering programs in Pakistan. To keep up the permanent membership status, it is the requirement of PEC to implement Outcome-Based in engineering degree awarding institutes in Pakistan. The main aim of Outcome-Based education in engineering education is to empower engineering students with the essential characteristics required to switch themselves into the engineering profession as a global and professional engineer. The focus of current research is to explore the philosophical and theoretical underpinnings of Outcome-Based education. Moreover, to unveil the current challenges in the implementation of OBE framework in engineering education.