How might the development of data mining and log analysis systems for the Moodle virtual learning environment improve computer science students’ course engagement and encourage course designers’ future engagement with data analysis methods for the evaluation of course resources?

Virtual learning environments (VLEs) form part of modern pedagogy in education, they contain student usage data that has potential to inform and improve this pedagogy. The question this thesis explores is how might the development of data mining and log analysis systems for the Moodle virtual learning environment, improve computer science students’ course engagement and encourage course designers’ future engagement with data analysis methods for the evaluation of course resources? The thesis proposes that a student will complete missed work sooner if their utilisation of the VLE is automatically tracked and electronic prompts are sent when VLE activities are missed. The thesis also hypothesises that presenting a simple-to-use data mining and visualisation tool to course designers would increase their future acceptance of data mining technology for informing course design with a longer-term intent that this would improve the quality of the online learning experience ultimately improving student engagement. Exploring the two hypotheses required the development of two software artefacts, MooTwit – a tool that contacts students when they fall behind in their VLE study and MooLog – a tool that extracts and presents summative information on VLE course utilisation. To establish if student timely engagement improved, the study used MootTwit with two groups of students over a period of 15 weeks, messaging one group only when they fell behind. Statistical analysis and comparisons were made between how quickly each group engaged with the missed items. Using MooTwit to track and contact students did influence the timeliness of their engagement with the VLE activities. Specifically, the results suggest by direct messaging a student to engage with missed material, they complete missed activities closer to required completion date. To ascertain if the acceptance of data mining for course evaluation could be improved, surveys were used before and after a demonstration of MooLog to a group of course designers. The pre-demonstration survey assessed existing planning and evaluation processes. The post-demonstration survey collected evaluations of the relevance of the information provided by MooLog and the likelihood of Page 3 of 120 the software being used to evaluate course effectiveness. The results of the study established that many designers currently do not use data analysis as a method of informing course improvement and there was evidence to suggest the MooLog demonstration significantly increased acceptance of the potential of data mining. The findings within the thesis show that educational data-mining has the potential to improve pedagogy in VLE linked education offering opportunities to increase timely engagement and to raise course designers’ acceptance of data mining to improve the validity and quality of course evaluation

Equipamento standard para montagem de componentes

Mestrado em Engenharia de Automação IndustrialO projeto apresentado surge da parceria entre a empresa Siroco e a Universidade de Aveiro, e descreve o estudo e a implementação de uma metodologia para programação de autómatos (PLC) e consolas de operação (HMI). Este documento descreve a proposta de uma metodologia baseada nos princípios da programação orientada por objetos que permite o desenvolvimento de blocos funcionais a usar na programação de alguns componentes típicos de um equipamento de montagem automatizado. Procura-se com esta abordagem diminuir o tempo de desenvolvimento de projeto dos sistemas tratados, e simplificar a implementação, integração, teste e manutenção das aplicações de software. Os blocos funcionais foram desenvolvidos na ferramenta de programação de PLC e HMI da Omron (Sysmac Studio), com recurso à utilização de estruturas denominadas de Function e Function Block. A metodologia criada foi aplicada no desenvolvimento dos blocos funcionais propostos pela empresa Siroco, para os quais a empresa propôs que se elaborassem algoritmos de controlo para as estruturas mais importantes dos equipamentos desenvolvidos pela empresa, nomeadamente os cilindros pneumáticos, pratos rotativos e estações de trabalho. É descrito o método utilizado para o desenvolvimento dos algoritmos, e é demonstrado como estes blocos podem ser aplicados no programa de controlo de um equipamento. Para finalizar, são implementados dois casos de estudo que servem para demonstrar e validar a viabilidade da metodologia proposta neste projeto.This project results from the partnership between the Siroco company and the University of Aveiro, and demonstrates the study and implementation of a methodology for the development of Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and operator panels (HMI) programs. This document describes the proposed approach, based on principles of object-oriented programming that allows the development of functional blocks in the programming of some typical components of an automated assembly equipment. The propose of this approach is to reduce project development time of the treated systems and simplify the implementation, integration, testing and maintenance of software applications. The functional blocks were developed in the Omron PLC and HMI programming tool (Sysmac Studio), with the use of structures called of Function and Function Blocks. The methodology created was applied in the development of functional blocks proposed by Siroco company, which are to design control algorithms for the most important structures of the typical equipment developed by the company, including pneumatic cylinders, indexing tables and workstations. The method used to develop the algorithm is described, and it is shown how these blocks can be implemented in the control software of an equipment. Finally, two case studies were implemented, which served to demonstrate and validate the feasibility of the methodology proposed in this project