Improving maintenance strategies from experience feedback

A huge amount of rough data is available in companies on past maintenance activities as a result of the implementation of CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System). In that context, we focus on an experience feedback system dedicated to maintenance, allowing the capitalization of past interventions by means of a formal knowledge representation language, and the extraction from these interventions of new knowledge for future reuse

Adult beginner distance language learner perceptions and use of assignment feedback

This qualitative study examines perceptions and use of assignment feedback among adult beginner modern foreign language learners on higher education distance learning courses. A survey of responses to feedback on assignments by 43 Open University students on beginner language courses in Spanish, French, and German indicated that respondents can be classified into three groups: those who use feedback strategically by integrating it into the learning process and comparing it with, for example, informal feedback from interaction with native speakers, those who take note of feedback, but seem not to use it strategically, and those who appear to take little account of either marks or feedback. The first group proved to be the most confident and most likely to maintain their motivation in the longer term. The conclusion discusses some of the pedagogical and policy implications of the findings

Reading Lists in Cambridge: A Standard System?

In June 2008 a committee of librarians from across the University convened to investigate ways of improving library services, with particular regard to elearning and the provision of services to undergraduates. Reading lists quickly emerged as the major factor in undergraduate library use, as influential on the types of resources used by undergraduates, and as an area where there was potential for an improvement to the student experience. One of the committee’s recommendations was that an application be made for an Arcadia Fellowship to investigate issues surrounding the adoption of a standard system for dealing with reading lists. The proposal was felt to map well onto the core issues highlighted by the Arcadia Programme – particularly Changes in Higher Education, New generations of library users, Technology and Changing academic workflows. This report is the result of that Fellowship.The Arcadia Programme has been generously funded by a Grant from the Arcadia Fund http://www.arcadiafund.org.uk

Case studies to enhance online student evaluation: Bond University – Surveying students online to improve learning and teaching

One of the most sensible ways of improving learning and teaching is to ask the students for feedback. At the end of each teaching period (i.e. semester or term) all universities and many schools survey their students. Usually these surveys are managed online. Questions ask for student perceptions about teaching, assessment and workload. The survey administrators report four common problems

Transportation network companies as cost reduction strategies for paratransit

Paratransit service is an auxiliary type of public transportation provided for people with disabilities and older adults. Federal ADA regulations require all transit agencies receiving federal funding to provide paratransit service, but the per trip cost to transit operators is extremely expensive. Many transit agencies are looking for ways to reduce costs without limiting services. For many agencies, this results in providing the minimum services as required by ADA regulations. However, Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) has taken a different approach to cost reduction by entering into one of the first partnerships with transportation network companies. In September 2016, MBTA’s paratransit service, The Ride, began a partnership with both Uber and Lyft as a cost reduction strategy for paratransit provision. Since the beginning of the partnership, MBTA has been able to reduce costs of providing paratransit while maintaining the same level of service. This report will examine the benefits and limitations of such partnerships between transit agencies and transportation network companies, using MBTA’s The Ride partnership as an example for potentially successful partnerships throughout the United States.Community and Regional Plannin

All-Payer Claims Database Development Manual: Establishing a Foundation for Health Care Transparency and Informed Decision Making

With support from the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center, the APCD Council has developed a manual for states to develop all-payer claims databases. Titled All-Payer Claims Database Development Manual: Establishing a Foundation for Health Care Transparency and Informed Decision Making, the manual is a first-of its-kind resource that provides states with detailed guidance on common data standards, collection, aggregation and analysis involved with establishing these databases

The motivational challenge facing beginner learners of Spanish at a distance

This paper presents some preliminary findings of an on-going longitudinal study of initial motivation and motivation maintenance in beginner distance adult learners of Spanish in the UK. Adapting a framework of executive motivational influences developed in the context of classroom teaching (Dörnyei, 2001a) to the distance learning process, data was obtained from questionnaires and follow-up interviews with a sample of questionnaire respondents. This paper explores meaningful descriptors of the most prevalent types of motivation found within this group. Drawing primarily on the interview data, it also presents early steps towards learner autonomy taken by these learners based on their own perceptions, and highlights the predominance of metacognitive over other strategies at this stage in their learning. Finally it analyses some of the motivational influences of tutors and of other learners, and their roles in supporting and affirming the learning endeavour, and indicates areas for follow-up research with beginner distance language learners within this study