Information Technology of the Educational Planning and Curriculum Development

In: A.J. Kallenberg and M.J.J.M. van de Ven (Eds), 2002, The New Educational Benefits of ICT in Higher Education: Proceedings. Rotterdam: Erasmus Plus BV, OECR ISBN 90-9016127-9Optimal design of teaching process in higher school is realized to a considerable extent intuitively or on the basis of expert evaluations. Such an approach allows to achieve an approximate solution of the problem only. The experimental study of the teaching process and learners’ characteristics, computer-aided technologies of statistical processing of experimental data, computer simulation of the educational process, computer analysis of simulation results are proposed as methodology of this problem solution. This curriculum design is prominent for the logical project development of education, the content areas of each course, and for the professional qualification. Other opportunities of using this procedure are linked with the development of a new and modifying existing curriculum

Project Cost Contingency Estimation Modeling Using Risk Analysis and Fuzzy Expert System

Determination of the appropriate project cost contingency, especially during the tendering stage is very important to ensure a successful bidding of the project. Setting too high a cost contingency will not make the tender look competitive, while putting too low will not cover risks that may cause cost overrun during the construction. Traditionally, contractors estimate cost contingency based on subjective judgment, such as 5-10% from the base cost estimated by considering past similar project. This method is typically derived from intuition, past experience and historical data. However, such method does not have a sound basis and is difficult to justify or defend. More objective methods for estimating project cost contingency have been presented. However, most of the methods still rely on formal modeling techniques which sometimes require the user to have knowledge and familiarity with statistical techniques. This research proposes a method to estimate cost contingency using a flexible and rational approach based on risk analysis and fuzzy expert system concept. This method could accommodate contractors’ subjective judgment and also the use of risk analysis and management concept in the analysis process. The proposed method involved the development of cost contingency model for building and infrastructure projects in Malaysia. To develop the model, a number of common risk factors were identified from the literature. Data and information from the literature were also acquired to specify fuzzy expert system properties, such as membership function, rule base and fuzzy inference mechanism. The fuzzy expert system was developed using scenarios to predict percentage cost contingency allocation. The scenarios were then validated using three case projects by conducting face to face interviews with the project managers. From the validation, it was found that the predictions given by the system were within 20% accuracy compared to actual cost contingencies. A computer program was also developed using MATLAB software to demonstrate the model’s application in estimating tender price during the bidding stage

Creating User-Friendly Tools for Data Analysis and Visualization in K-12 Classrooms: A Fortran Dinosaur Meets Generation Y

During the summer of 2007, as part of the second year of a NASA-funded project in partnership with Christopher Newport University called SPHERE (Students as Professionals Helping Educators Research the Earth), a group of undergraduate students spent 8 weeks in a research internship at or near NASA Langley Research Center. Three students from this group formed the Clouds group along with a NASA mentor (Chambers), and the brief addition of a local high school student fulfilling a mentorship requirement. The Clouds group was given the task of exploring and analyzing ground-based cloud observations obtained by K-12 students as part of the Students' Cloud Observations On-Line (S'COOL) Project, and the corresponding satellite data. This project began in 1997. The primary analysis tools developed for it were in FORTRAN, a computer language none of the students were familiar with. While they persevered through computer challenges and picky syntax, it eventually became obvious that this was not the most fruitful approach for a project aimed at motivating K-12 students to do their own data analysis. Thus, about halfway through the summer the group shifted its focus to more modern data analysis and visualization tools, namely spreadsheets and Google(tm) Earth. The result of their efforts, so far, is two different Excel spreadsheets and a Google(tm) Earth file. The spreadsheets are set up to allow participating classrooms to paste in a particular dataset of interest, using the standard S'COOL format, and easily perform a variety of analyses and comparisons of the ground cloud observation reports and their correspondence with the satellite data. This includes summarizing cloud occurrence and cloud cover statistics, and comparing cloud cover measurements from the two points of view. A visual classification tool is also provided to compare the cloud levels reported from the two viewpoints. This provides a statistical counterpart to the existing S'COOL data visualization tool, which is used for individual ground-to-satellite correspondences. The Google(tm) Earth file contains a set of placemarks and ground overlays to show participating students the area around their school that the satellite is measuring. This approach will be automated and made interactive by the S'COOL database expert and will also be used to help refine the latitude/longitude location of the participating schools. Once complete, these new data analysis tools will be posted on the S'COOL website for use by the project participants in schools around the US and the world

Structured computer-based training in the interpretation of neuroradiological images

Computer-based systems may be able to address a recognised need throughout the medical profession for a more structured approach to training. We describe a combined training system for neuroradiology, the MR Tutor that differs from previous approaches to computer-assisted training in radiology in that it provides case-based tuition whereby the system and user communicate in terms of a well-founded Image Description Language. The system implements a novel method of visualisation and interaction with a library of fully described cases utilising statistical models of similarity, typicality and disease categorisation of cases. We describe the rationale, knowledge representation and design of the system, and provide a formative evaluation of its usability and effectiveness

Investigation of Air Transportation Technology at Princeton University, 1989-1990

The Air Transportation Technology Program at Princeton University proceeded along six avenues during the past year: microburst hazards to aircraft; machine-intelligent, fault tolerant flight control; computer aided heuristics for piloted flight; stochastic robustness for flight control systems; neural networks for flight control; and computer aided control system design. These topics are briefly discussed, and an annotated bibliography of publications that appeared between January 1989 and June 1990 is given