A double-edged sword: Use of computer algebra systems in first-year Engineering Mathematics and Mechanics courses

Many secondary-level mathematics students have experience with graphical calculators from high school. For the purposes of this paper we define graphical calculators as those able to perform rudimentary symbolic manipulation and solve complicated equations requiring very modest user knowledge. The use of more advanced computer algebra systems e.g. Maple, Mathematica, Mathcad, Matlab/MuPad is becoming more prevalent in tertiary-level courses. This paper explores our students’ experience using one such system (MuPad) in first-year tertiary Engineering Mathematics and Mechanics courses. The effectiveness of graphical calculators and computer algebra systems in mathematical pedagogy has been investigated by a multitude of educational researchers (e.g. Ravaglia et al. 1998). Most of these studies found very small or no correlation between student use of graphical calculators or exposure to computer algebra systems with future achievement in mathematics courses (Buteau et al. 2010). In this paper we focus instead on students’ attitude towards a more advanced standalone computer algebra system (MuPad), and whether students’ inclination to use the system is indicative of their mathematical understanding. Paper describing some preliminary research into use of computer algebra systems for teaching engineering mathematics

Collaborative Experimentation and Simulation: A Pathway to Improving Student Conceptualization of the Essentials of System Dynamics and Control Theory

The overarching goal of this research is to improve conceptualization of System Dynamics and Controls concepts by incorporating a Web-facilitated curriculum to enable intercampus collaboration and remotely-accessible or virtual systems. This approach will complement lecture-based curricula and will strongly enhance students’ conceptualization and exposure to System Dynamics and Controls fundamentals by providing less restricted exposure to a variety of systems that encompass the more important Dynamic Systems concepts. The plan involves the development of a System Dynamics Concepts Inventory and the implementation and assessment of three Web-enabled laboratory formats: (1) inter-campus collaborative experimentation, (2) remotely-accessible experiments, and (3) virtual system experiments. Each format has its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Remotely-accessible experiments, for example, can be made more readily available to students outside of regular laboratory hours, but the lack of hands-on exposure limits the potential scope of the experiments. Each format has been preliminarily implemented using a variety of dynamics systems that reflect some of the more important fundamentals pertinent to System Dynamics. These activities are currently being incorporated into a laboratory course at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and a lecture course at the University of Texas - Pan American (UTPA). A preliminary Course Inventory is being developed in collaboration with faculty at both institutions. An initial assessment of each laboratory format has been completed. This paper reports on the findings including a detailed discussion of the development of the Course Inventory, a discussion of the pros and cons of implementing each format, and an evaluation of the impact of each format in addressing student conceptualization of a few key fundamentals

Monitieteisten opiskelijaprojektien verkkopohjainen tukeminen

The aim of this work is to investigate, how project courses can be supported with online tools. Especially learning in projects and supporting the progression of projects is inspected. The ultimate goal would be that the students would form a team and get started fluently as well as work efficiently in projects while also learning and getting feedback. Practical online methods are created especially for the needs of mechatronics and cell biology student projects at Aalto University. The literature review examines interdisciplinary projects, learning, teaching and assessment in projects, phases of a project and project management and software used in project courses. Challenges of projects are presented with the help of questionnaire results at the beginning of the research part. Different types of preliminary methods have been developed to tackle these challenges. These include a formation of a team exercise, instructions for online project management, visualizing a course process with a diagram as well as tools for self- and peer-assessment. A case course was available to test some of the methods. The experiences of the students were inspected with a questionnaire. Based on the research, a plan was created for example projects, where students in a cell biology course and students in a mechatronics course will cooperate. The plan includes, what the students do together and what separately and what teaching methods are used. This research provides the reader a good understanding about the utilization of online methods in project courses. It is brought out how the visualization of different aspects can support the progression of a project and what kind of documentation and instruction should be utilized. Based on the research, several practical recommendations can be given. For example, asking students to write down and share their working time was found to even out the workload of a team and the documentation of the students from previous years was seen as a useful baseline for the new students.Tämän työn tarkoituksena on tutkia, miten projektikursseja voidaan tukea verkkopohjaisilla menetelmillä. Erityisesti tarkastellaan oppimista projekteissa ja projektien etenemisen tukemista. Tavoitteena olisi, että opiskelijat ryhmäytyvät ja pääsevät liikkeelle sujuvasti sekä työskentelevät tehokkaasti projektissa samalla oppien ja saaden palautetta. Työssä on erityisesti tarkoitus luoda käytännöllisiä verkkopohjaisia menetelmiä Aalto-yliopiston mekatroniikan ja solubiologian opiskelijaprojekteja varten. Kirjallisuusselvityksessä tehdään katsaus monitieteisiin projekteihin, projekteissa oppimiseen, projektikurssien opettamiseen ja arviointiin, projektien vaiheisiin ja projektinhallintaan sekä projektikursseilla käytettyihin verkkopohjaisiin työkaluihin. Tutkimusosiossa on esitetty projektien haasteita kyselytulosten avulla. Verkkopohjaisia menetelmiä kehitettiin vastaamaan näihin haasteisiin. Näihin menetelmiin lukeutui ryhmäytymisharjoitus, ohjeistus verkkopohjaiseen projektinhallintaan, kurssin etenemisen visualisointi, sekä työkalu itse- ja vertaisarviointia varten. Tutkimusta varten oli käytössä case-kurssi, jolla osaa menetelmistä testattiin. Opiskelijoiden kokemuksia kerättiin kyselytutkimuksella. Tutkimuksen perusteella luotiin suunnitelma esimerkkiprojekteille, joissa solubiologian ja mekatroniikan kurssien opiskelijat tekevät yhteistyötä. Suunnitelma käsittää sen, mitä asioita opiskelijat tekevät yhdessä ja mitä erikseen, ja millaisia opetusmenetelmiä käytetään. Tämä työ tarjoaa lukijalle hyvän perusymmärryksen verkkopohjaisten menetelmien hyödyntämisestä projektikursseilla. Työssä tuodaan esille, millä tavoin projektin tekijöiden visualisointi voi tukea projektin etenemistä ja millaisia dokumentaatioita ja ohjeistuksia projekteissa tulisi hyödyntää. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voidaan antaa myös useita käytännön suosituksia. Esimerkiksi opiskelijoiden työskentelyajan kirjaamisen havaittiin tasaavaan ryhmän työkuormaa ja edellisten vuosien opiskelijoiden tuottama dokumentaatio nähtiin hyödyllisenä vertailukohtana uusille opiskelijoille

Computational Analysis of Upper Extremity Movements for People Post-Stroke

Wearable sensors have been beneficial in assessing motor impairment after stroke. Individuals who have experienced stroke may benefit from the use of wearable sensors to quantify and assess quality of motions in unobserved environments. Seven individuals participated in a study wherein they performed various gestures from the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA), a measure of post-stroke impairment. Participants performed these gestures while being monitored by wearable sensors placed on each wrist. A series of MATLAB functions were written to process recorded sensor data, extract meaningful features from the data, and prepare those features for further use with various machine learning techniques. A combination of linear and nonlinear regression was applied to frequency domain values from each gesture to determine which can more accurately predict the time spent performing the gesture, and the associated gesture FMA score. General performance suggests that linear regression techniques appear to better fit paretic gestures, while nonlinear regression techniques appear to better fit non-paretic gestures. A use of classifier techniques were used to determine if a classifier can distinguish between paretic and non-paretic gestures. The combinations include determining if a higher performance is obtained through the use of either accelerometer, rate gyroscope, or both modalities combined. Our findings indicate that, for upper-extremity motion, classifiers trained using a combination of accelerometer and rate gyroscope data performed the best (accuracy of 73.1%). Classifiers trained using accelerometer data alone and rate gyroscope data alone performed slightly worse than the combined data classifier (70.2% and 65.7%, respectively). These results suggest specific features and methods suitable for the quantification of impairment after stroke

I Decide, Therefore I Am (Relevant!): A Project-Based Learning Experience in Linear Algebra

We present a project-based learning experience in the context of linear algebra developed for the recently launched double major in business administration and management/engineering of technology and telecommunication services at the universitat politecnica de valencia 2014-15. Decision-making is used to motivate students towards applying, understanding, and appreciating linear algebra in a diversity of projects. this experience introduces students to the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multi-attribute, decision-making technique that is rooted in linear algebra. Through a simulation scenario, each team of students develops a project about any real-world problem consisting of a decision-making process in the presence of multiple intangibles. At the same time, the algebraic fundamentals that make the process valid and consistent are clarified. The students showed great interest in the experience; and the results obtained confirmed that the activities helped them understand several complex concepts related to linear algebra, and fostered a significant interest in a subject traditionally considered frighteningly abstract. Finally, the students appreciated the stimulating insights provided by linear algebra that are crucial in decision-making. This multi-disciplinary experience enables the evaluation of several cross skills and competencies such as critical thinking and ethical leadership. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Izquierdo Sebastián, J.; Benítez López, J.; Berenguer, A.; Lago-Alonso, C. (2016). I Decide, Therefore I Am (Relevant!): A Project-Based Learning Experience in Linear Algebra. Computer Applications in Engineering Education. 24(3):481-492. doi:10.1002/cae.21725S481492243Blumenfeld, P. C., Soloway, E., Marx, R. W., Krajcik, J. S., Guzdial, M., & Palincsar, A. (1991). 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V., & Tai, R. H. (2011). Pipeline persistence: Examining the association of educational experiences with earned degrees in STEM among U.S. students. Science Education, 95(5), 877-907. doi:10.1002/sce.20441L. C. Wilcox M. S. WilcoxHOTALING, N., FASSE, B. B., BOST, L. F., HERMANN, C. D., & FOREST, C. R. (2012). A Quantitative Analysis of the Effects of a Multidisciplinary Engineering Capstone Design Course. Journal of Engineering Education, 101(4), 630-656. doi:10.1002/j.2168-9830.2012.tb01122.xSaaty, T. L. (1977). A scaling method for priorities in hierarchical structures. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 15(3), 234-281. doi:10.1016/0022-2496(77)90033-52015 http://bie.org/about/why_pblBenítez, J., Delgado-Galván, X., Izquierdo, J., & Pérez-García, R. (2011). Achieving matrix consistency in AHP through linearization. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 35(9), 4449-4457. doi:10.1016/j.apm.2011.03.013Benítez, J., Delgado-Galván, X., Gutiérrez, J. A., & Izquierdo, J. (2011). Balancing consistency and expert judgment in AHP. Mathematical and Computer Modelling, 54(7-8), 1785-1790. doi:10.1016/j.mcm.2010.12.023Benítez, J., Izquierdo, J., Pérez-García, R., & Ramos-Martínez, E. (2014). A simple formula to find the closest consistent matrix to a reciprocal matrix. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 38(15-16), 3968-3974. doi:10.1016/j.apm.2014.01.007Elmer, F., Seifert, I., Kreibich, H., & Thieken, A. H. (2010). A Delphi Method Expert Survey to Derive Standards for Flood Damage Data Collection. Risk Analysis, 30(1), 107-124. doi:10.1111/j.1539-6924.2009.01325.xIsasi, P., Quintana, D., Saez, Y., & Mochon, A. (2007). APPLIED COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE FOR FINANCE AND ECONOMICS. Computational Intelligence, 23(2), 111-116. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8640.2007.00297.xBenítez, J., Delgado-Galván, X., Izquierdo, J., & Pérez-García, R. (2012). An approach to AHP decision in a dynamic context. 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A Role for Virtual Engineering in Engineering Skills Development

The paper will address how the Problem-Based-Learning (PBL) approach developed at Liverpool for undergraduate and graduate students has been extended to the continued professional development (CPD) of practising engineers. As the complexity of engineering systems grows, engineers increasingly need to be able to use a range of tools to undertake synthesis and analysis, address affordability goals, and reduce risk as they work in the various phases of the engineering life-cycle. To assist engineers operate successfully within this product life-cycle, there have been significant developments in modelling and simulation tools. Integrating these tools in a Virtual Engineering (VE) environment allows engineers to examine potentially conflicting requirements within the different phases of the life-cycle, to develop a co-ordinated approach to requirements capture and product design through to identifying costly problems that might occur later in the development and operations phases. Technical skills development to use these tools is critical in this process. This paper presents the experiences, learning outcomes and lessons gleaned in the development and implementation of bespoke rotorcraft engineering training programmes at The University of Liverpool. The programmes were designed using a Problem Based Learning (PBL) framework where knowledge and skills are gained through solving problems. Four cases studies are presented in the paper, demonstrating how this PBL/VE approach has been used effectively in training programmes. Consideration is given to the future use of VE tools, together with some challenges for their successful application