Designing Effective Simulation Games for Active Learning in Systems Engineering

Simulation games have been an effective method of teaching, especially for Systems Engineering concepts. The hands-on activities facilitate active, experiential, and collaborative learning with fun elements. Many simulation games have been developed in the past, but not all are equally effective. How to design a simulation game that is effective and easy to implement? This paper attempts to identify the key design factors that affect the performance of simulation games for teaching systems engineering concepts. By reviewing designs of several existing simulation games, important design factors were identified and verified. With these factors, a more effective way to design new simulation games has been suggested.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Community Development Evaluation Storymap and Legend

Community based organizations, funders, and intermediary organizations working in the community development field have a shared interest in building stronger organizations and stronger communities. Through evaluation these organizations can learn how their programs and activities contribute to the achievement of these goals, and how to improve their effectiveness and the well-being of their communities. Yet, evaluation is rarely seen as part of a non-judgemental organizational learning process. Instead, the term "evaluation" has often generated anxiety and confusion. The Community Development Storymap project is a response to those concerns.Illustrations found in this document were produced by Grove Consultants

Collaboration Engineering Methodology: Horizontal Extension to Accommodate Project and Program Concerns

A Collaboration Engineering Methodology (CEM) comprises a set of defined, standardized, documented, and discoverable objectives, deliverables, key actions, tools/templates, principles and policies for establishing effective, efficient, satisfying collaborative work practices for high-value organizational tasks. First-generation CEMs address design and development CE solutions. Existing CEMs, though, focus on the design/build phase, but lack the pre-design and post-build elements that are common to methodologies for adjacent disciplines. We use Design Science Research to situate existing design/build CEMs in the larger context of CE programs and projects. We develop and validate an extended CEM in four phases: 1) Opportunity Assessment, 2) Development, 3) Deployment, and 4) Improvement (ODDI). Phase 1 concerns CE portfolio management and CE project planning; Phase 2 encapsulates existing design/build CEMs; Phase 3 concerns roll-out planning, change management, and implementation; Phase 4 concerns continuous optimization of a deployed work practice. The ODDI model advances CE another step towards becoming a fully realized professional practice, but more research is still required to derive a complete a design theory for CE

A participatory physical and psychosocial intervention for balancing the demands and resources among industrial workers (PIPPI): study protocol of a cluster-randomized controlled trial

Background: Need for recovery and work ability are strongly associated with high employee turnover, well-being and sickness absence. However, scientific knowledge on effective interventions to improve work ability and decrease need for recovery is scarce. Thus, the present study aims to describe the background, design and protocol of a cluster randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce need for recovery and improve work ability among industrial workers. Methods/Design: A two-year cluster randomized controlled design will be utilized, in which controls will also receive the intervention in year two. More than 400 workers from three companies in Denmark will be aimed to be cluster randomized into intervention and control groups with at least 200 workers (at least 9 work teams) in each group. An organizational resources audit and subsequent action planning workshop will be carried out to map the existing resources and act upon initiatives not functioning as intended. Workshops will be conducted to train leaders and health and safety representatives in supporting and facilitating the intervention activities. Group and individual level participatory visual mapping sessions will be carried out allowing team members to discuss current physical and psychosocial work demands and resources, and develop action plans to minimize strain and if possible, optimize the resources. At all levels, the intervention will be integrated into the existing organization of work schedules. An extensive process and effect evaluation on need for recovery and work ability will be carried out via questionnaires, observations, interviews and organizational data assessed at several time points throughout the intervention period. Discussion: This study primarily aims to develop, implement and evaluate an intervention based on the abovementioned features which may improve the work environment, available resources and health of industrial workers, and hence their need for recovery and work ability

Math empowerment: a multidisciplinary example to engage primary school students in learning mathematics

This paper describes an educational project conducted in a primary school in Italy (Scuola Primaria Alessandro Manzoni at Mulazzano, near to Milan). The school requested our collaboration to help improve upon the results achieved on the National Tests for Mathematics, in which students, aged 7, registered performances lower than the national average the past year. From January to June, 2016, we supported teachers, providing them with information, tools and methods to increase their pupils’ curiosity and passion for mathematics. Mixing our different experiences and competences (instructional design and gamification, information technologies and psychology) we have tried to provide a broader spectrum of parameters, tools and keys to understand how to achieve an inclusive approach that is ‘personalised’ to each student. This collaboration with teachers and students allowed us to draw interesting observations about learning styles, pointing out the negative impact that standardized processes and instruments can have on the self‐esteem and, consequently, on student performance. The goal of this programme was to find the right learning levers to intrigue and excite students in mathematical concepts and their applications. Our hypothesis is that, by considering the learning of mathematics as a continuous process, in which students develop freely through their own experiments, observations, involvement and curiosity, students can achieve improved results on the National Tests (INVALSI). This paper includes results of a survey conducted by children ‐’About Me and Mathematics‘

Standardization of electroencephalography for multi-site, multi-platform and multi-investigator studies: Insights from the canadian biomarker integration network in depression

Subsequent to global initiatives in mapping the human brain and investigations of neurobiological markers for brain disorders, the number of multi-site studies involving the collection and sharing of large volumes of brain data, including electroencephalography (EEG), has been increasing. Among the complexities of conducting multi-site studies and increasing the shelf life of biological data beyond the original study are timely standardization and documentation of relevant study parameters. We presentthe insights gained and guidelines established within the EEG working group of the Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression (CAN-BIND). CAN-BIND is a multi-site, multi-investigator, and multiproject network supported by the Ontario Brain Institute with access to Brain-CODE, an informatics platform that hosts a multitude of biological data across a growing list of brain pathologies. We describe our approaches and insights on documenting and standardizing parameters across the study design, data collection, monitoring, analysis, integration, knowledge-translation, and data archiving phases of CAN-BIND projects. We introduce a custom-built EEG toolbox to track data preprocessing with open-access for the scientific community. We also evaluate the impact of variation in equipment setup on the accuracy of acquired data. Collectively, this work is intended to inspire establishing comprehensive and standardized guidelines for multi-site studies

The interaction of lean and building information modeling in construction

Lean construction and Building Information Modeling are quite different initiatives, but both are having profound impacts on the construction industry. A rigorous analysis of the myriad specific interactions between them indicates that a synergy exists which, if properly understood in theoretical terms, can be exploited to improve construction processes beyond the degree to which it might be improved by application of either of these paradigms independently. Using a matrix that juxtaposes BIM functionalities with prescriptive lean construction principles, fifty-six interactions have been identified, all but four of which represent constructive interaction. Although evidence for the majority of these has been found, the matrix is not considered complete, but rather a framework for research to explore the degree of validity of the interactions. Construction executives, managers, designers and developers of IT systems for construction can also benefit from the framework as an aid to recognizing the potential synergies when planning their lean and BIM adoption strategies

Empowering Patients with Central Venous Catheters: Utilizing Evidence-Based Video-Assisted Education to Reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections

An evidence-based Central Venous Catheter (CVC) dressing change video was created to enhance patient independence, and to increase resource efficiency among nursing staff in an inpatient pediatric setting in which Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) rates were rising. Pediatric oncology patients confer the highest risk of developing CLABSIs due to long-term CVC access, neutropenic effects of treatment regimens, and constant fluctuations between inpatient, outpatient clinic, and homecare settings. Use of video-assisted education is anticipated to standardize and improve patient care, decrease healthcare costs, and increase nurse productivity, and is widely supported by research. Qualitative data collection was conducted by surveying patients and nursing staff to identify the project’s need, obtain baseline competency levels, and evaluate the effectiveness of the video upon implementation. 71% of nurses identified time as the greatest barrier to education. 94% of nurses selected videos as being a resource that could assist them in providing patient education. 100% of patients stated that the video enhanced their overall understanding of the CVC dressing change process. Significant increases in confidence levels of independently performing CVC dressing changes were shown in over 62% of the patients surveyed. Inpatient nurses are often the first to initiate patient education, and this video provides supplemental resources to facilitate CVC teaching, and overcome some of the primary barriers faced in the inpatient setting during patient education processes

Launching the Grand Challenges for Ocean Conservation

The ten most pressing Grand Challenges in Oceans Conservation were identified at the Oceans Big Think and described in a detailed working document:A Blue Revolution for Oceans: Reengineering Aquaculture for SustainabilityEnding and Recovering from Marine DebrisTransparency and Traceability from Sea to Shore:  Ending OverfishingProtecting Critical Ocean Habitats: New Tools for Marine ProtectionEngineering Ecological Resilience in Near Shore and Coastal AreasReducing the Ecological Footprint of Fishing through Smarter GearArresting the Alien Invasion: Combating Invasive SpeciesCombatting the Effects of Ocean AcidificationEnding Marine Wildlife TraffickingReviving Dead Zones: Combating Ocean Deoxygenation and Nutrient Runof

Factors shaping the evolution of electronic documentation systems

The main goal is to prepare the space station technical and managerial structure for likely changes in the creation, capture, transfer, and utilization of knowledge. By anticipating advances, the design of Space Station Project (SSP) information systems can be tailored to facilitate a progression of increasingly sophisticated strategies as the space station evolves. Future generations of advanced information systems will use increases in power to deliver environmentally meaningful, contextually targeted, interconnected data (knowledge). The concept of a Knowledge Base Management System is emerging when the problem is focused on how information systems can perform such a conversion of raw data. Such a system would include traditional management functions for large space databases. Added artificial intelligence features might encompass co-existing knowledge representation schemes; effective control structures for deductive, plausible, and inductive reasoning; means for knowledge acquisition, refinement, and validation; explanation facilities; and dynamic human intervention. The major areas covered include: alternative knowledge representation approaches; advanced user interface capabilities; computer-supported cooperative work; the evolution of information system hardware; standardization, compatibility, and connectivity; and organizational impacts of information intensive environments