Report of the Implementation of Work Package 6 "Implementation of Methodology" in the Framework of the IRNet Project

This article, prepared by an international team of researchers from different scientific areas connected with ICT, e-learning, pedagogy, and other related disciplines, focuses on the objectives and some results of the international project IRNet (www.irnet.us.edu.pl). In particular, the article describes research tools, methods, and a procedure of the Work Package 6 “Implementation of Methodology,” that is, objectives, tasks, deliverables, publications, and implementation of research trips in the context of the next stages and Work Packages of IRNet project – International Research Network

Improving control engineering education with TRIK cybernetic system

International audienceWe present our experience in the application of a new cybernetic system, TRIK, for control engineering education at university level. The TRIK system is composed of an embedded controller, analogue and digital input-output interface and an inertial measurement unit which can be easily programmed with visual and text based computer languages. The system can be efficiently used for robotic and control engineering prototyping and education. In the present paper, we describe and discuss various applications of the system in education covering basic control theory problems and advanced robotic system development. Our experience with TRIK has demonstrated that the developed system and corresponding curricula improves the efficiency of control engineering education at university level, and has significant potential to promote science and technology at secondary school level

Applicability of the Online Short Spatial Ability Battery to university students testing

Introduction. Multiple studies advocate an importance of spatial abilities (SA) for educational and occupational success, especially in STEM. Recently an Online Short Spatial Ability Battery (OSSAB) was developed and normed for SA testing in adolescents. The battery includes mechanical reasoning, paper folding, pattern assembly, and shape rotation tests. The battery has shown good psychometric characteristics (high reliability and validity, low redundancy, discriminative power), and is available in open access and free to use. Aim. The present research aims: 1) to examine the applicability of the OSSAB for university student testing; 2) to describe its psychometric properties and structure; and 3) to investigate links between SA and educational performance. Methods. A total of 772 university students (aged from 18 to 26, mean age (SD) = 19.55 (1.51), 63.1% females) participated in the study. Participants provided information about their age, gender, university major, and academic achievement, and completed a battery of tests that included the OSSAB tests. Results. The study reports psychometric norms for using the OSSAB in university students. Students’ performance in the OSSAB was similar to that shown in previous research in adolescents in terms of means and variance. The OSSAB showed adequate psychometric properties in this sample: no floor or ceiling effects; low redundancy; moderate to high internal consistency; high discriminative power across university majors; and high external validity. The results indicated that around 6% of the students showed very high levels of SA (higher than 1.5 SD above the mean), and around 8% of students showed very low levels of SA (lower than 1.5 SD below mean). In addition, the OSSAB scores were linked to educational profile choice and exam scores, with small-to-medium effect sizes. Scientific novelty. The study provides psychometric norms for a short online open measure of spatial ability in university students. Practical significance. The OSSAB can be used to provide individual recommendations to students (e.g. SA training), to identify spatially gifted students, and for research purposes in university contexts

Russian Freshmen Future Profession Choice in the Conditions of Digitalization: New Challenges of Labour Markets

The prestige and values of higher education are traditionally high in Russia and overseas countries. For several generations, there has been a youth orientation towards higher education. Higher education and diplomas are perceived by a person primarily as a means of social mobility. Profession sets a certain “social background” for people’s life. At the same time, however, over the past few decades the assessment of the prestige associated with certain professions and specialties has dramatically changed and the labor market has changed, too. The the desire for higher education among young people continues to grow in Russia. Today’s students, future specialists, face new challenges of the labor market: firstly, availability of desired and demanded professions acquisition on the labor market; secondly, disappearance of old and the emergence of new professions; thirdly, digitalization of the labor market; fourthly, the formation of specialist competencies that are in demand both on the local and global labor markets. The major research objectives were to study the issues of students’ profession choice and their opinion on the demanded / non-demanded professions on modern labor market. The research methodology combines both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The primary data was collected using questionnaires and indepth-interviews. 250 freshmen of the Ural Federal University and 250 freshmen of Saint-Petersburg State University were questioned on the basis of quota sampling. In depth-interviews (15) were organized for the educators engaged in the system of higher education. The study has revealed the issue of inequality in access to higher education as well as of inequality in access to getting prestigious and demanded professions on labor market.The majority of the respondents look for occupation suited to abilities and to their own interests. For young people the main thing is that the profession should not only make profit, but also a career progress and give new professional knowledge. The research has fixed that the majority of the students believe that they have made the right choice of specialty and they are well aware of how their future professional activity will be. About 30.0% of young people do not often choose those professions that they would like to be trained at the university, but those that are possible due to their “accessibility”. The students’ professional choice does not correspond to their ideas about their future profession and their psychological characteristics. Keywords: Higher education, students, freshmen, Russia, labor market, future profession choice, digitalizatio

Geometry Construction Problems in Electronic Educational Environment as a Development Means for the Students’ Conceptual Mental Structure: Socio-Cultural Approach

In the context of the sociocultural approach, the authors studied the problem of the development of the students’ conceptual mental structures in the process of geometry teaching. An educational activity for the development of a generalized ability to solve geometry construction problems in electronic educational environment served as a development means. The objective of the research is to introduce a characteristic of the technology for the formation of the students’ generalized ability to solve geometry construction problems in electronic educational environment focusing on the development of conceptual mental structures. The key factor is the transition from the content-based mathematics teaching to instrument and value-based one, which corresponds to the transformation of the content sphere of mathematical knowledge into procedural and contextual. Construction problems introduce fundamentally new for an adolescent form of activity. This kind of work makes it possible to transform declarative knowledge that provides an understanding of educational material into procedural, providing mastering and application of geometric concepts. In addition, value-based knowledge is developed, providing the value positions experience and creating conditions for the formation of the axiological sphere of the student’s personality. The statistical data analysis confirmed the hypothesis that the student’s general proficiency in solving geometry construction problems in terms of socio-culturally oriented education influences positively the development of conceptual mental structures

MARS: An Educational Environment for Multiagent Robot Simulations

Undergraduate robotics students often find it difficult to design and validate control algorithms for teams of mobile robots. This is mainly due to two reasons. First, very rarely educational laboratories are equipped with large teams of robots, which are usually expensive, bulky and difficult to manage and maintain. Second, robotics simulators often require student to spend much time to learn their use and functionalities. For this purpose, a simulator of multi-agent mobile robots named MARS has been developed within the Matlab environment, with the aim of facilitating students to simulate a wide variety of control algorithms in an easy way and without spending time for understanding a new language. Through this facility, the user is able to simulate multi-robot teams performing different tasks, from cooperative to competitive ones, by using both centralized and distributed controllers. Virtual sensors are provided to simulate real devices. A graphical user interface allows students to monitor the robots behaviour through an online animation

2009 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology : One-Hundred and Thirty-First Commencement

https://scholar.rose-hulman.edu/commencementprograms/1024/thumbnail.jp

Pedagogy of the Twenty-First Century: Innovative Teaching Methods

In the twenty-first century, significant changes are occurring related to new scientific discoveries, informatization, globalization, the development of astronautics, robotics, and artificial intelligence. This century is called the age of digital technologies and knowledge. How is the school changing in the new century? How does learning theory change? Currently, you can hear a lot of criticism that the classroom has not changed significantly compared to the last century or even like two centuries ago. Do the teachers succeed in modern changes? The purpose of the chapter is to summarize the current changes in didactics for the use of innovative teaching methods and study the understanding of changes by teachers. In this chapter, we consider four areas: the expansion of the subject of pedagogy, environmental approach to teaching, the digital generation and the changes taking place, and innovation in teaching. The theory of education, figuratively speaking, has two levels. At the macro-level, in the “education-society” relationship, decentralization and diversification, internationalization of education, and the introduction of digital technologies occur. At the micro-level in the “teacher-learner” relationship, there is an active mix of traditional and innovative methods, combination of an activity approach with an energy-informational environment approach, cognition with constructivism and connectivism