Design and development of visual learning techniques to construct chemical engineering safety knowledge

People working in the chemical industry require specific skills to deal with hazardous environments and to operate complicated machinery which often requires on site training. The importance of designing systems and environments with safe possible ways to train operators is essential for the chemical industries. Virtual reality offers the potential to train personnel in a safe highly visual and interactive manner. Virtual Learning Environments(VLE) represent an entirely new form of educational technology. Virtual learning environments support similar forms of learning to ‘real’ ones but are not a physical space, like a classroom or lecture theatre, and learning may work closely together while not being active at the same time. Virtual learning environment can be used to enhance traditional instruction, which will as a result enhance a student’s achievement. Virtual environment can be used to enhance traditional instruction, which will as a result enhance a student’s achievements. Virtual environments lead to a greater depth of learning and engagement for many students. Virtual learning environments are keeping with the spirit of constructivism where teachers and students are active participants of knowledge formation not just the recipients of knowledge. The aim of the work presented in this thesis was to establish if constructivist education of chemical engineering safety practices was achievable using VLE. A VLE was created based on an undergraduate laboratory experiment for the chemical engineering degree at The University of Nottingham. The VLE focused primarily on safety and hazard awareness issues of students performing the experiment. The VLE was created principally for the first year chemical engineering students and first time chemical engineering laboratory visitors. The effectiveness of this VLE was tested with positive results for the group for which it was designed

Design and development of visual learning techniques to construct chemical engineering safety knowledge

People working in the chemical industry require specific skills to deal with hazardous environments and to operate complicated machinery which often requires on site training. The importance of designing systems and environments with safe possible ways to train operators is essential for the chemical industries. Virtual reality offers the potential to train personnel in a safe highly visual and interactive manner. Virtual Learning Environments(VLE) represent an entirely new form of educational technology. Virtual learning environments support similar forms of learning to ‘real’ ones but are not a physical space, like a classroom or lecture theatre, and learning may work closely together while not being active at the same time. Virtual learning environment can be used to enhance traditional instruction, which will as a result enhance a student’s achievement. Virtual environment can be used to enhance traditional instruction, which will as a result enhance a student’s achievements. Virtual environments lead to a greater depth of learning and engagement for many students. Virtual learning environments are keeping with the spirit of constructivism where teachers and students are active participants of knowledge formation not just the recipients of knowledge. The aim of the work presented in this thesis was to establish if constructivist education of chemical engineering safety practices was achievable using VLE. A VLE was created based on an undergraduate laboratory experiment for the chemical engineering degree at The University of Nottingham. The VLE focused primarily on safety and hazard awareness issues of students performing the experiment. The VLE was created principally for the first year chemical engineering students and first time chemical engineering laboratory visitors. The effectiveness of this VLE was tested with positive results for the group for which it was designed

Framework to Enhance Teaching and Learning in System Analysis and Unified Modelling Language

Cowling, MA ORCiD: 0000-0003-1444-1563; Munoz Carpio, JC ORCiD: 0000-0003-0251-5510Systems Analysis modelling is considered foundational for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) students, with introductory and advanced units included in nearly all ICT and computer science degrees. Yet despite this, novice systems analysts (learners) find modelling and systems thinking quite difficult to learn and master. This makes the process of teaching the fundamentals frustrating and time intensive. This paper will discuss the foundational problems that learners face when learning Systems Analysis modelling. Through a systematic literature review, a framework will be proposed based on the key problems that novice learners experience. In this proposed framework, a sequence of activities has been developed to facilitate understanding of the requirements, solutions and incremental modelling. An example is provided illustrating how the framework could be used to incorporate visualization and gaming elements into a Systems Analysis classroom; therefore, improving motivation and learning. Through this work, a greater understanding of the approach to teaching modelling within the computer science classroom will be provided, as well as a framework to guide future teaching activities

EU-China collaboration in design: research in Web-enabled collaborative design supported by the Asia-Link and Asia IT&C projects

The research of Web-enabled collaboration in total design supported by the European Union's Asia Link project [1] and Asia IT&C project is reported in this paper. The two projects both aim at enhancing research collaboration between the EU and China. The Virtual Research Institute (VRI) is described first, which is the platform for the collaboration for the Asia Link project and is established by utilizing the advanced Web techniques; and then, the framework for the collaboration and the Web techniques involved in the research are presented which represent the major research of the Asia IT&C project. The effective collaboration between the project partners and the impacts of the project outcome on the partnership are also discussed

Augmented Reality Technology for Education

Non

Augmented Reality-Based English Language Learning: Importance And State Of The Art

Augmented reality is increasingly used in the educational domain. However, little is known concerning the actual importance of AR for learning English skills. The weakness of the English language among English as a foreign Language (EFL) students is widespread in different educational institutions. Accordingly, this paper aims at exploring the importance of AR for learning English skills from the perspectives of English language teachers and educators. Mixed qualitative methods were used. To achieve the objective of this study, 12 interviews were conducted with English teachers concerning the topic under investigation. Second, a systematic literature review (SLR) that demonstrates the advantages, the limitation, and the approach of AR for learning English was performed. This study is different from other studies in using two methods and conducting comprehensive research on the importance of AR in improving English language skills in general. Thus, the study concluded that AR improves language skills and academic achievements. It also reduces students\u27 anxiety levels, improves students\u27 creativity, and increases students\u27 collaboration and engagement. Moreover, the students have positive attitudes towards using AR for learning the English language. The findings present important implications for the integration and development of AR for learning