145,406 research outputs found

    Engaging Undergraduate Students in Transportation Studies through Simulating Transportation for Realistic Engineering Education and Training (STREET)

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    The practice of transportation engineering and planning has evolved substantially over the past several decades. A new paradigm for transportation engineering education is required to better engage students and deliver knowledge. Simulation tools have been used by transportation professionals to evaluate and analyze the potential impact of design or control strategy changes. Conveying complex transportation concepts can be effectively achieved by exploring them through simulation. Simulation is particularly valuable in transportation education because most transportation policies and strategies in the real world take years to implement with a prohibitively high cost. Transportation simulation allows learners to apply different control strategies in a risk-free environment and to expose themselves to transportation engineering methodologies that are currently in practice. Despite the advantages, simulation, however, has not been widely adopted in the education of transportation engineering. Using simulation in undergraduate transportation courses is sporadic and reported efforts have been focused on the upper-level technical elective courses. A suite of web-based simulation modules was developed and incorporated in the undergraduate transportation courses at University of Minnesota. The STREET (Simulating Transportation for Realistic Engineering Education and Training) research project was recently awarded by NSF (National Science Foundation) to develop web-based simulation modules to improve instruction in transportation engineering courses and evaluate their effectiveness. Our ultimate goal is to become the epicenter for developing simulation-based teaching materials, an active textbook, which offers an interactive learning environment to undergraduate students. With the hand-on nature of simulation, we hope to improve student understanding of critical concepts in transportation engineering and student motivation toward transportation engineering, and improve student retention in the field. We also would like to disseminate the results and teaching materials to other colleges to integrate the simulation modules in their curricula.Transportation Education and Training, Transportation Simulation, Roadway Geometry Design

    Can Simulation Utilizing Standardized Patients Ease Anxiety and Enhance Self-efficacy in Nursing Students Working With Patients Experiencing Mental Illness? A Pilot Study.

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    Executive Summary Problem In the United States (US), mental health disorders affect millions of adults and children each year Anxiety and Depression Association of America. (2016). A significant challenge facing nursing faculty, and students, is the shortage of psychiatric and mental health clinical placement sites. Due to the limited opportunities for hands-on experience, student nurses may miss opportunities to practice critical skills and gain knowledge in a supervised learning environment. This can result in increased anxiety and decreased efficacy when they encounter a patient with a mental illness or one that is in psychiatric crisis. Simulation allows students to practice low-frequency, high-stakes events that occur during routine and emergency health care that replicate experiences with patients with diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health conditions (Eta, Atanga, Atashill and D’Cruz, 2011; Redden, 2015). The question addressed by the project was: Can simulation using standardized patients ease anxiety and enhance self-efficacy in nursing students working with patients experiencing mental illness? Purpose To investigate the value of providing a simulation experience, utilizing standardized patients, to assess its effect on student knowledge, anxiety, and self-confidence as they prepare to enter their first community mental health clinical experience and work with patient experiencing emotional/mental illness. Current simulation frameworks and methodologies were used to assist community mental health students in recognizing signs of patient deterioration during psychiatric crisis or mental illness and developing vital skills transferable to other clinical practice areas. Goals The primary goal of the project was to provide senior-level Bachelor of Science (BSN) students with skills that can be transferred into a community mental health clinical setting to decrease student anxiety and enhance self-efficacy (self-confidence) leading to stronger clinical judgements. A secondary goal was to provide evidence-based practice findings related to the benefit of simulation in mental health nursing education and to implement these findings into nursing education practice. This study provides the potential for simulated learning in mental health education to become an evidence-based practice model for BSN nursing programs. Objectives The project evaluated participant demographics, knowledge, self-efficacy (self-confidence), and anxiety about working with patients with mental illness through pre- and post-tests, satisfaction and confidence surveys and evaluation of reflective comments. Plan This was a quasi-experimental study with random assignment to intervention and comparison groups. Twenty senior-level traditionally enrolled in a pre-licensure baccalaureate nursing students, during Fall 2015, were randomly assigned to one of two groups – one receiving standard education delivery and simulation experience (intervention group), and the other receiving standard education delivery only (comparison group). Using a pre-test/post-test design, the impact of simulation on knowledge and student-reported confidence and anxiety surveys was compared to that of the group who did not receive simulated experience. A Mental Health Knowledge Test (MHKT), Spearman’s Rank-Order Correlation, the Pearson correlation coefficient, and paired t-tests were methods used to collect and analyze data. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS PC+ software version 23. Outcomes and Results All six objectives were met for this project. Objective two identified that there was no statistically significant (p=/\u3e0.05) difference in student knowledge between pre-and -post-simulation intervention, as knowledge scores remained relatively unchanged for both groups. Objective three found that there was statistical significance (p=

    High-Tech Tools for Teaching Physics: the Physics Education Technology Project

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    This article appeared in the Journal of Online Teaching and Learning September 15, 2006.This paper introduces a new suite of computer simulations from the Physics Education Technology (PhET) project, identifies features of these educational tools, and demonstrates their utility. We compare the use of PhET simulations to the use of more traditional educational resources in lecture, laboratory, recitation and informal settings of introductory college physics. In each case we demonstrate that simulations are as productive, or more productive, for developing student conceptual understanding as real equipment, reading resources, or chalk-talk lectures. We further identify six key characteristic features of these simulations that begin to delineate why these are productive tools. The simulations: support an interactive approach, employ dynamic feedback, follow a constructivist approach, provide a creative workplace, make explicit otherwise inaccessible models or phenomena, and constrain students productively

    A Software Radio Challenge Accelerating Education and Innovation in Wireless Communications

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    This Innovative Practice Full Paper presents our methodology and tools for introducing competition in the electrical engineering curriculum to accelerate education and innovation in wireless communications. Software radio or software-defined radio (SDR) enables wireless technology, systems and standards education where the student acts as the radio developer or engineer. This is still a huge endeavor because of the complexity of current wireless systems and the diverse student backgrounds. We suggest creating a competition among student teams to potentiate creativity while leveraging the SDR development methodology and open-source tools to facilitate cooperation. The proposed student challenge follows the European UEFA Champions League format, which includes a qualification phase followed by the elimination round or playoffs. The students are tasked to build an SDR transmitter and receiver following the guidelines of the long-term evolution standard. The metric is system performance. After completing this course, the students will be able to (1) analyze alternative radio design options and argue about their benefits and drawbacks and (2) contribute to the evolution of wireless standards. We discuss our experiences and lessons learned with particular focus on the suitability of the proposed teaching and evaluation methodology and conclude that competition in the electrical engineering classroom can spur innovation.Comment: Frontiers in Education 2018 (FIE 2018

    A cross‐faculty simulation model for authentic learning

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    This paper proposes a cross‐faculty simulation model for authentic learning that bridges the gap between short group‐based simulations within the classroom and longer individual placements in professional working contexts. Dissemination of the model is expected to widen the use of authentic learning approaches in higher education (HE). The model is based on a cross‐faculty project in which UK HE students acted as professional developers to produce prototype educational games for academic clients from other subject areas. Perceptions about the project were obtained from interviews with project participants. The stakeholders believed the cross‐faculty simulation to be a motivating learning experience, whilst identifying possible improvements. To evaluate whether the authenticity of the student–client relationship could be improved, the interview data were compared to four themes for authentic learning described by Rule in 2006. The data supported Rule’s themes, whilst highlighting the added value gained from meta‐awareness of the simulation as a learning opportunity

    Machinima interventions: innovative approaches to immersive virtual world curriculum integration

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    The educational value of Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVWs) seems to be in their social immersive qualities and as an accessible simulation technology. In contrast to these synchronous applications this paper discusses the use of educational machinima developed in IVW virtual film sets. It also introduces the concept of media intervention, proposing that digital media works best when simply developed for deployment within a blended curriculum to inform learning activity, and where the media are specifically designed to set challenges, seed ideas, or illustrate problems. Machinima, digital films created in IVWs, or digital games offer a rich mechanism for delivering such interventions. Scenes are storyboarded, constructed, shot and edited using techniques similar to professional film production, drawing upon a cast of virtual world avatars controlled through a human–computer interface, rather than showing real‐life actors. The approach enables academics or students to make films using screen capture software and desktop editing tools. In student‐generated production models the learning value may be found in the production process itself. This paper discusses six case studies and several themes from research on ideas for educational machinima including: access to production; creativity in teaching and learning; media intervention methodology; production models; reusability; visualisation and simulation

    Death masks and professional masks: community, values and ethics in legal education

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    This article is a case-study of simulation as a way of learning values and ethics, an approach implemented curriculum-wide within a postgraduate, professional legal educational programme, the Diploma in Professional Legal Practice, in Scotland. It involves learning face-to-face using conventional print resources, and also involves online digital resources. While the use of the web to simulate a professional environment is nothing new in itself, the implementation of it (first in the Glasgow Graduate School of Law and then Strathclyde Law School) and on this scale is fairly unique. The article explores the genesis of this approach, its interdisciplinary bases, and its use in various law schools, its effects in building learning communities and facilitating ethical self-revelation

    Evaluation of the interactive multimedia business simulation SPACE (Simulating Project Auditing and Controlling Excellence)

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    This report presents the evaluation of the computer-based simulation SPACE – Simulating Project Auditing & Controlling Excellence – which is an interactive multiedia business simulation developed in partnership by Andersen Consulting and Siemens AG. The aims of SPACE are fostering self-directed learning and the acquisition of applicable knowledge in the economic domain regarding construction and solution projects of US GAAP. The evaluation was conducted in cooperation with the Institute of Educational Psychology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. The aim of the evaluation was to compare the effectiveness of SPACE with a traditional classroom instruction. Therefore, a problem-based transfer task was designed which assessed learning gains with respect to applicable knowledge in the following areas: (1) strategic knowledge and problem-solving skills, that means selection of appropriate information and strategies to solve a realistic business problem, (2) basic skills to calculate POC and (3) conceptual knowledge, i.e. an understanding of principles and interconnections of concepts in the domain. 38 students of business administration participated in the evaluation. 19 students learned eight hours with SPACE, the other 19 students received a traditional classroom instruction lasting also eight hours in the same subject area of US GAAP. Results show that SPACE was significantly better with regard to strategic knowledge and applying problem solving skills. In other words, the study showed that SPACE is superior to classroom instruction in this area of knowledge acquisition and application. In the other areas of basic skills to calculate POC and conceptional knowledge, differences were not significant between the classroom instruction and SPACE. When SPACE is employed under realistic conditions, i.e. in business, it can be assumed that SPACE is even more superior to classroom instruction.Das computerbasierte Lernprogramm SPACE (Simulating Project Auditing & Controlling Excellence), eine interaktive, multimediale Simulationssoftware, wurde von Anderson Consulting und der Siemens AG entwickelt. SPACE zielt auf die Förderung selbstgesteuerten Lernens und die Vermittlung anwendbaren Wissens. Das Simulationsprogramm behandelt inhaltlich die Kalkulation von Projektdaten auf Basis von US GAAP. Die hier berichtete Evaluationsstudie hatte zum Ziel, die EffektivitĂ€t von SPACE im Vergleich zu einem traditionellen Klassenzimmerunterricht festzustellen. Mit einer problemorientierten Transferaufgabe wurden folgende Dimensionen erfasst: (1) Strategisches Wissen und Problemlösefertigkeiten (hierbei ging es um die Selektion relevanter Informationen und Strategien in Bezug auf eine realistische Problemstellung), (2) Basisfertigkeiten zur Berechnung von POC und (3) konzeptionelles Wissen im Sinne eines VerstĂ€ndnisses von Prinzipien und ZusammenhĂ€ngen innerhalb des behandelten Inhaltsgebietes. An der Studie nahmen 38 Studenten der Betriebswirtschaftslehre teil. 19 Studenten lernten in einem Zeitraum von acht Stunden mit SPACE, die anderen 19 Teilnehmer nahmen an einem achtstĂŒndigen Klassenzimmerunterricht zum selben Inhaltsbereich teil. Hinsichtlich der Dimension "Strategiewissen und Problemlösefertigkeiten" schnitten diejenigen Studenten signifikant besser ab, die mit SPACE lernten. Das Simulationsprogramm zeigte sich somit in Bezug auf diese Dimension der Wissensanwendung dem traditionellen Klassenzimmerunterricht ĂŒberlegen. In den Dimensionen "Berechnung von POC" und "Konzeptionelles Wissen" ergaben sich keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen den beiden Untersuchungsgruppen. Es ist anzunehmen, dass SPACE dem traditionellem Unterricht deutlicher ĂŒberlegen ist, wenn das Lernprogramm unter realistischeren Bedingungen, d.h. in Betrieben, eingesetzt wird
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