4,314 research outputs found

    Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework - Application of Data Science in Inclusive Education

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    Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Science and Advanced Analytics, specialization in Data ScienceBeing a disabled student the author faced higher education with a handicap which as experience studying during COVID 19 confinement periods matched the findings in recent research about the importance of digital accessibility through more e-learning intensive academic experiences. Narrative and systematic literature reviews enabled providing context in World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, legal and standards framework and information technology and communication state-of-the art. Assessing Portuguese higher education institutions’ web sites alerted to the fact that only outlying institutions implemented near perfect, accessibility-wise, websites. Therefore a gap was identified in how accessible the Portuguese higher education websites are, the needs of all students, including those with disabilities, and even the accessibility minimum legal requirements for digital products and the services provided by public or publicly funded organizations. Having identified a problem in society and exploring the scientific base of knowledge for context and state of the art was a first stage in the Design Science Research methodology, to which followed development and validation cycles of an Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework. The framework blends various Data Science study fields contributions with accessibility guidelines compliant interface design and content upload accessibility compliance assessment. Validation was provided by a focus group whose inputs were considered for the version presented in this dissertation. Not being the purpose of the research to deliver a complete implementation of the framework and lacking consistent data to put all the modules interacting with each other, the most relevant modules were tested with open data as proof of concept. The rigor cycle of DSR started with the inclusion of the previous thesis on Atlântica University Institute Scientific Repository and is to be completed with the publication of this thesis and the already started PhD’s findings in relevant journals and conferences

    Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework

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    Machado, D. S-M., & Santos, V. (2023). Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework. International Journal of Automation and Smart Technology, 13(1), [2423]. https://doi.org/10.5875/ausmt.v13i1.2423The article finds context and the current state of the art in a systematic literature review on intelligent systems employing PRISMA Methodology which is complemented with narrative literature review on disabilities, digital accessibility and legal and standards context. The main conclusion from this review was the existing gap between the available knowledge, standards, and law and what is put into practice in higher education institutions in Portugal. Design Science Research Methodology was applied to output an Inclusive Intelligent Learning Management System Framework aiming to help higher education professors to share accessible pedagogic content and deliver on-line and presential classes with a high level of accessibility for students with different types of disabilities, assessing the uploaded content with Web content Accessibility Guidelines 3.0, clustering students according to their profile, conscient feedback and emotional assessment during content consumption, applying predictive models and signaling students at risk of failing classes according to study habits and finally applying a recommender system. The framework was validated by a focus group to which experts in digital accessibility, information systems and a disabled PhD graduate.publishersversionpublishe

    Reframing Construction Labour Productivity in a Colonisation Context: The West Bank as an Example

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    This thesis explores the under-researched topic of defining construction labour productivity and the factors impacting it in the context of a small, volatile and dependent economy of the West Bank. The aim is to identify the impact of particular social, economic and political constraints on structural and agency factors affecting the construction sector's productivity using case studies from the West Bank. Labour productivity is studied from a broad perspective, adding political and economic conditions to reframe and evaluate the term and its determinants in the context of high uncertainty, political instability and complex geography. 'Labour productivity' comes to represent the production interplay between agency and structural factors, and construction labour is treated as complementary to the machine rather than as an extension of it. The theoretical framework is developed based on Giddens' Structuration Theory, mainly the reconciliation of the multi-layers structure and agency determinants impacting construction labour productivity in the context of colonisation. The study's philosophy validates the use of mixed methods methodology, merging positivism and constructivism under the canopy of pragmatism. Quantitative and qualitative data have been collected, with the quantitative part consisting primarily of comprehensive survey data from the PCBS and the qualitative of purposive semi-structured interviews with decision makers at macro and meso levels plus analysis of multiple case studies. The results reveal that the controversy about using hourly wage as an indication of construction productivity is resolved by including labour characteristics and context-specific variables in the model. The construction sector in Israel depends on skilled blue-collar employees from the West Bank rather than unskilled ones, with a higher rate of labour mobility for those from rural areas to Israeli construction markets than from other locations, leading to skill shortages in the West Bank. The construction labour process in the West Bank also rests on low levels of vocational education and training and a high risk of accidents due to meagre experience, lack of training and improper application of health and safety regulations. Finally, Israeli control of movement within the West Bank and the outlets to international markets impacts on labour productivity by imposing restrictions on importing and transporting construction materials and the internal mobility of workers. The research contributes to knowledge through its originality and generalisation by mapping the complexity of social factors and providing a definition of construction productivity appropriate to colonisation

    The Metaverse: Survey, Trends, Novel Pipeline Ecosystem & Future Directions

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    The Metaverse offers a second world beyond reality, where boundaries are non-existent, and possibilities are endless through engagement and immersive experiences using the virtual reality (VR) technology. Many disciplines can benefit from the advancement of the Metaverse when accurately developed, including the fields of technology, gaming, education, art, and culture. Nevertheless, developing the Metaverse environment to its full potential is an ambiguous task that needs proper guidance and directions. Existing surveys on the Metaverse focus only on a specific aspect and discipline of the Metaverse and lack a holistic view of the entire process. To this end, a more holistic, multi-disciplinary, in-depth, and academic and industry-oriented review is required to provide a thorough study of the Metaverse development pipeline. To address these issues, we present in this survey a novel multi-layered pipeline ecosystem composed of (1) the Metaverse computing, networking, communications and hardware infrastructure, (2) environment digitization, and (3) user interactions. For every layer, we discuss the components that detail the steps of its development. Also, for each of these components, we examine the impact of a set of enabling technologies and empowering domains (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Security & Privacy, Blockchain, Business, Ethics, and Social) on its advancement. In addition, we explain the importance of these technologies to support decentralization, interoperability, user experiences, interactions, and monetization. Our presented study highlights the existing challenges for each component, followed by research directions and potential solutions. To the best of our knowledge, this survey is the most comprehensive and allows users, scholars, and entrepreneurs to get an in-depth understanding of the Metaverse ecosystem to find their opportunities and potentials for contribution

    Optimising urban environments to promote active and healthy ageing using a citizen science approach

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    As urbanization and population ageing continue to simultaneously occur, considering the ways in which urban environments can be optimised to support older adults and promote their active and healthy ageing is crucial. Across the public health and age-friendly cities (AFC) literature, it has become clear that actively engaging older adults in their local urban contexts can contribute to this, embedding their local-level and place-based needs within urban initiatives. The aim of this thesis was to engage older adults and community stakeholders through a citizen science (CS) approach in order to explore how urban environments can be optimised to promote active and healthy ageing. To inform the CS approach, a systematic scoping review was undertaken and identified urban barriers and facilitators across the global context of public health literature engaging older adults in urban environments. This review elucidated further areas across neighbourhood changes and migrant and cross-cultural communities that require extension within the age-friendly agenda. The Citizen Science Appraisal Tool (CSAT) was also developed as part of the systematic scoping review. The CSAT demonstrated ways in which CS best practices can be utilised within CS research to actively engage older adults and develop good quality CS research for public health. The CS study followed, employing four stages with older adults (N = 17; Mean Age = 72.4 (SD 7.5); Female = 11) and community stakeholders (N = 22; Female = 13). This study included a preliminary citizen social science (CSS) study, bringing together older adults community stakeholders in online discussions. The outcomes of this stage presented a collective social framing of active and healthy ageing, alongside organic connections, solution-building and potential network-building emerging. The following three stages of the CS study, informed by the Our Voice CS for health equity approach, engaged older adults to collect and interpret their own data. This included Discovery Tool walks and discussion groups, followed by advocating their findings to community stakeholders during workshops. The outcomes presented contributions to the age-friendly, public health and urban planning literature through six co-produced city-wide recommendations for optimising physical social elements across the city of Birmingham. Encompassing these recommendations in a social-ecological systems (SES) approach demonstrated their interconnectedness across different urban social-ecological domains. The SES approach demonstrated the value for bringing these urban recommendations, domains and disciplines together through a ‘whole’ systems view to effectively implement age-friendly changes. An implementation framework for actioning the age-friendly agenda across the city of Birmingham was also developed. This framework identified how bottom-up and top-down approaches can centre on collaborative actions, presenting a middle ground that brings together older adults needs with the resources and support of stakeholders. This framework presents a transferable tool that can be utilised across other studies strengthening the age-friendly agenda. Overall, this thesis presents a demonstratable case of actively engaging older adults and community stakeholders through CSS and CS to understand their experiences and place-based needs in urban environments. This included embedding the voice of older adults into co-produced recommendations for optimising urban environments, having potential to maximise the impact of urban initiatives that target active and healthy ageing. This in turn addresses the current challenge that decision-makers face when trying to understand the determinants to alter or enhance in urban environments when promoting active and healthy ageing

    Authentic Alignment: Toward an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) informed model of the learning environment in health professions education

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    It is well established that the goals of education can only be achieved through the constructive alignment of instruction, learning and assessment. There is a gap in research interpreting the lived experiences of stakeholders within the UK learning environment toward understanding the real impact – authenticity – of curricular alignment. This investigation uses a critical realist framework to explore the emergent quality of authenticity as a function of alignment. This project deals broadly with alignment of anatomy pedagogy within UK undergraduate medical education. The thread of alignment is woven through four aims: 1) to understand the alignment of anatomy within the medical curriculum via the relationships of its stakeholders; 2) to explore the apparent complexity of the learning environment (LE); 3) to generate a critical evaluation of the methodology, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis as an approach appropriate for realist research in the complex fields of medical and health professions education; 4) to propose a functional, authentic model of the learning environment. Findings indicate that the complexity and uncertainty inherent in the LE can be reflected in spatiotemporal models. Findings meet the thesis aims, suggesting: 1) the alignment of anatomy within the medical curriculum is complex and forms a multiplicity of perspectives; 2) this complexity is ripe for phenomenological exploration; 3) IPA is particularly suitable for realist research exploring complexity in HPE; 4) Authentic Alignment theory offers a spatiotemporal model of the complex HPE learning environment: the T-icosa

    Program and Proceedings: The Nebraska Academy of Sciences 1880-2023. 142th Anniversary Year. One Hundred-Thirty-Third Annual Meeting April 21, 2023. Hybrid Meeting: Nebraska Wesleyan University & Online, Lincoln, Nebraska

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    AERONAUTICS & SPACE SCIENCE Chairperson(s): Dr. Scott Tarry & Michaela Lucas HUMANS PAST AND PRESENT Chairperson(s): Phil R. Geib & Allegra Ward APPLIED SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY SECTION Chairperson(s): Mary Ettel BIOLOGY Chairpersons: Lauren Gillespie, Steve Heinisch, and Paul Davis BIOMEDICAL SCIENCES Chairperson(s): Annemarie Shibata, Kimberly Carlson, Joseph Dolence, Alexis Hobbs, James Fletcher, Paul Denton CHEM Section Chairperson(s): Nathanael Fackler EARTH SCIENCES Chairpersons: Irina Filina, Jon Schueth, Ross Dixon, Michael Leite ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Chairperson: Mark Hammer PHYSICS Chairperson(s): Dr. Adam Davis SCIENCE EDUCATION Chairperson: Christine Gustafson 2023 Maiben Lecturer: Jason Bartz 2023 FRIEND OF SCIENCE AWARD TO: Ray Ward and Jim Lewi

    Up the downstream: Contributing mechanisms to the persistence of health inequalities in Norway

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    This dissertation aims to expand on the current empirical knowledge of and theoretical mechanisms in the social determinants of health. Specifically, it investigates the mechanisms by which social root causes generate health outcomes in order to assess within-state health inequalities in high-income countries such as Norway. It emphasizes the effect of material and immaterial resources that result from positioning in a social hierarchy, typically reflected by income, education, and occupational class. Article I explores the income inequality--health hypothesis and its relation to income, psychosocial stress, and self-rated health. Using multilevel moderated mediation analysis, I show that while the income--health relationship is indeed mediated by psychosocial stress in all countries under study, this effect is not moderated by income inequality. I conclude that material effects of income at the individual level remain an important explanation of the income--health gradient. Article II investigates the extent to which socioeconomic determinants of health (education, income, and occupational class) contribute to predicting non-communicable disease (NCD) prevalences. Further, it aims to non-parametrically assess how these health gradients look from the perspective of a random forest algorithm. We conclude that prediction is an important tool for scientific inquiry into health inequalities and potentially a useful tool for public health guidance, as it allows unpacking complex functional relationships between NCD outcomes and social determinants of health. Article III shifts attention towards subnational trends in early life health care input. The article investigates to what extent local patterns of antibacterial dispensing rate trends in young children are associated with the proportion of the local population having achieved high levels of education. Results indicate that the ability to reduce dispensing rates over time at the municipal level is associated with mean population levels of higher education. Optimizing prescribing practices may require area-level strategies, and attention should be given toward sociodemographic challenges at the local level. Overall, I show that material and immaterial social resources, and their value towards a market that reward said resources, remain important explanans of the persistence of health inequalities even in comparatively high-income and egalitarian countries such as Norway. I argue that the fundamental structures of social inequality must be considered when explaining the persistence of health inequalities, and that policies in pursuit of population health are limited in their ability to address this fundamental structure. Empirically, I show that material and immaterial advantage lead to better health outcomes both at the individual and population levels. Methodologically, I show that while methods of association are limited in their ability to estimate causal effects, important patterns of health inequalities can still be explored using novel statistical analyses on observational data
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