Effects of Service Projects on the Perceived Skills of Engineering Technology Students

Client based service projects offer many advantages to instructors, students and host communities. However, instructors must carefully choose the projects in order to achieve the benefits that come with this pedagogical tool. The purpose of this research was to investigate the perception of engineering technology students on how different service projects influence performance and perceived skills. A modified perceived skill model was used to measure the perceived effect of the team based service projects on: motivation to learn, contribution to research knowledge, skills and personal benefit, and project as a learning device. The projects were either client based or non-client based. In addition, they were categorized as either engineering, non-engineering, or some engineering projects. The non-engineering were the projects with no engineering content, whereas those with some form of engineering content were classified as some engineering. From the results, it appears that all the project types and categories were highly perceived by the students as contributing to their perceived skills. They were also highly perceived as great learning tools. Additionally, the projects with engineering content (client based and non-client based) provided a significantly higher perceived motivation to learn. However, there was no significant difference in the exam performance

Do Classes in Cooperative Classrooms Have a Positive Influence on Creativity and Teamwork Skills for Engineering Students?

Contributing to the acquisition of professional creativity and teamwork skills has been a special challenge for some of the subjects taught at the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), and this has been a starting point for the work described in this paper. Some professors have intuited that the use of cooperative classrooms could facilitate the acquisition of these skills. We describe the new methodologies applied within cooperative classrooms by some professors, and present the procedure for measuring students’ perception of their own learning outcomes, skill improvements, and overall satisfaction with the use of this kind of classroom. For this project, 250 students enrolled in several subjects answered a questionnaire. The featuresof thesubjectsinvolved intheproject arewidely disparate. We present the results of the statistical analysis with special emphasis on creativity and teamwork skills, and we conclude that the use of cooperative classroom has a positive influence on the acquisition of these skills. This work has the added value of being the first analysis of student perception of the use of cooperative classroom in the acquisition of creativity and teamwork skills

The Effects of Repertoire Selection and Classroom Configuration on the Middle School Classroom Environment

This predictive correlational study examined the effects of classroom configuration and repertoire selection on student perspectives of the middle school choral classroom atmosphere. Despite the general understanding that repertoire affects the classroom atmosphere, how repertoire selection and classroom configuration affect student perspective is still being determined. Student perspectives are vital as they have a significant impact as educators endeavor to create a positive learning environment for choral students. This quantitative study applied a multiple linear regression to predict the results of the Short Test of Musical Preferences and the National School Improvement Partnership’s Classroom Climate Questionnaire Upper Primary. This study aimed to understand student perspectives on classroom arrangement, repertoire selection, and classroom environment in the middle school choir classroom. The study was conducted in one public middle school choir classrooms in Northeast Georgia. It included 117 choral students in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. The findings of this multiple regression analysis revealed a predictive relationship between classroom configuration, repertoire selection, and classroom atmosphere. The regression results showed that the results were statistically significant (R2 = .281, p = 0.034) along with a large effect size (0.625), displaying that classroom configuration and repertoire selection impact students\u27 perspectives on classroom atmosphere. This information is helpful for choir teachers as they aim to form a positive classroom environment for all students. Limitations and recommendations for future research are included

TeachOpenCADD: a teaching platform for computer-aided drug design using open source packages and data

Owing to the increase in freely available software and data for cheminformatics and structural bioinformatics, research for computer-aided drug design (CADD) is more and more built on modular, reproducible, and easy-to-share pipelines. While documentation for such tools is available, there are only a few freely accessible examples that teach the underlying concepts focused on CADD, especially addressing users new to the field. Here, we present TeachOpenCADD, a teaching platform developed by students for students, using open source compound and protein data as well as basic and CADD-related Python packages. We provide interactive Jupyter notebooks for central CADD topics, integrating theoretical background and practical code. TeachOpenCADD is freely available on GitHub: https://github.com/volkamerlab/TeachOpenCAD

SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND FAMILY REUNIFICATION: PERCEPTIONS AND POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO FAMILY REUNIFICATION

The purpose of this study was to examine the contributing factors of family reunification (FR) according to social workers and other professionals working in child welfare. Existing research highlights the importance of the social worker’s relationship with the person with substance abuse as a contributing factor to FR; however, there is little research as to what influenced the social worker and other professionals from their perspective. A quantitative self-administered survey was distributed to social workers and professionals in San Bernardino County and Riverside County that included questions about the participant’s background, experience, possible contributing factors, and influences potentially impacting family reunification in child welfare for persons with substance abuse. The participants were instructed to focus on a past case with a family involved with child welfare due to substance abuse and comparisons were made between families that did and did not reunify (n=145). By utilizing bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression models, the researchers were able to identify significant variables associated with self-reported family reunification. Familiarity with the substance abuse treatment process and the social worker’s belief in their clients to maintain sobriety emerged as significant contributing factors to FR suggesting that persons with substance abuse should be supported, empowered, and approached from a strengths-based perspective by a social worker or another professional who is also knowledgeable about the substance abuse treatment process. Further research is still needed regarding what other practice approaches and substance abuse treatment options could be implemented to increase FR

Virtual Collaborative Learning Environments with the Telepresence Platform Supported by the Teaching for Understanding Pedagogical Framework: Experiences in Higher Educational Process in Colombia

Virtual collaborative learning environments with the Telepresence Platform supported by the Teaching for Understanding pedagogical framework: experiences in Higher Educational process in Colombi

Study of the increased future employability of students working for Junior Enterprises

Thesis elaborated in collaboration with JADE – the European Confederation of Junior Enterprises. Analysis of the future employability of students influenced by their working for a junior enterprise. It will be based on an empirical study about census and identity of Junior Entrepreneurs.The present thesis contains an analysis of students’ intentions towards entrepreneurship and their increased employability influenced by the experience of working for a Junior Enterprise. It is based on an empirical study about the identity of members of the European Junior Enterprise network (JADE) as well as a literature research among academic studies and several studies conducted by the European Commission about Entrepreneurship in higher education. Key findings are the positively influenced entrepreneurial intentions of students and the increased feeling of preparedness for the job market thanks to their work for a Junior Enterprise

An Exploration of Professional Preparedness of Instructional Designers to Evaluate

Formative, summative, and confirmative evaluation of instructional products determine whether learner objectives have been attained and substantiate the value of the instruction. The ability to implement an evaluation plan is classified as an essential skill for instructional designers by the International Board of Standards for Training and Performance Improvement (IBSTPI). Previous research has ascertained that entry-level instructional designers have failed to master the skills required to create evaluation plans. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the professional preparation received by instructional designers, for instruction evaluation, through graduate level programs. The data collected for this study was the result of curriculum mapping 16 Masters and Ph.D. instructional design programs and conducting 29 semi-structured interviews of faculty and postgraduates of these programs. The study was designed to compare the curriculum map data with faculty and graduate responses of each respondent university. Gaps were identified in the instruction of evaluation within current instructional design programs. These gaps potentially impact the significance given to conducting an evaluation, and the opportunity for data collection, to support research in this area. The data could assist the participant institutions in curriculum planning to support improvements in ID student preparation. The findings also reveal the primary focus of the participant programs was preparing students to execute an effective design. Evaluation was not prioritized for most programs, due to lack of time, client resources, employer lack of interest, and limited faculty experience in evaluation