Effect of Work Status, Experience and Job Sector on E-Learning Style in Hybrid Classrooms: GCC Case Study

Online education is spreading, and gaining an understanding of the different styles and factors that affect student performance online is gaining attention by universities as well as researchers. This paper aims to explore the role of three factors related to student performance in hybrid courses. Hybrid courses are courses taught in a classroom environment but takes advantage of online tools such as online quizzes, online lectures and online feedback. The three factors this paper explores include student work status (employed or unemployed), years of work experience, and job sector (public or government). To measure the impact of these attributes on student performance in hybrid courses a sample from Al Ain University of Science and Technology was collected; the data then was analyzed to ensure its significance and reliability. The research finds a strong relationship between (work status, job experience, and job sector in which students work in) and student performance in hybrid classrooms. Keywords: Online education, e-Learning, learning styles, social impact on online learnin

Preparation of Al-Ti-Alloy closed-cell metal foams via foaming of powder compacts

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering, Izmir, 2008Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 91-95)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxiv, 95 leavesThe foaming behavior of 5 wt% 30-45, 45-56, 56-90, 90-106, 106-160 and 160-200 .m size spherical Ti6Al4V particle-added Al powder compacts were investigated for determining the effects of wetted particles on the expansion and stability of Al powder compacts. In order to determine the effect of particle-addition on the foaming behavior, Al compacts without particle addition prepared with same method were also foamed. Foaming experiments were performed using an in-situ foam expansion measuring system at 700-730C. Small compression test samples were further core drilled from Ti6Al4V-Al foam samples and tested at quasi-static strain rates.Al compacts showed the characteristic expansion-time curve, composing of 4 distinct regions. The expansion of 5 wt% Ti6Al4V-added compacts was found to be relatively low at small size particle additions, but increased with increasing particle size.Measurements of foam expansions of 30-45 .m size Ti6Al4V-added compacts with various weight percentages of particles showed that when the wt% of particles is lower than 2 wt%, the expansion behavior of the compacts became very similar to that of pure Al. Microscopic studies have further shown that Ti6Al4V addition reduced the drainage as compared with pure Al compacts. In foaming of Ti6Al4V-Al compacts, the liquid Al reacted with Ti6Al4V particles and formed TiAl3 particles. In relatively small size particle-added foams, TiAl3 particles dispersed through cell walls and cell edges, but at increased particle size, these particles were found next to the Ti6Al4V particles. The reduced drainage and lower foam expansions in the foaming of Ti6Al4V-added compacts were discussed based on the foam stabilization models in the literature. The reduced foamability of the compacts in small particle size Ti6Al4V addition was attributed to relatively high viscosities, due to higher cumulative surface area of the particles and higher rate of reaction between liquid Al and Ti6Al4V. The lower compression strength measured in Ti6Al4V-added foams was attributed to small specimen sizes, which could not show the mechanical properties of the bulk material

Foaming behavior of Ti6Al4V particle-added aluminum powder compacts

The foaming behavior of 5 wt.% Ti6Al4V (Ti64) particle (30–200 μm)-added Al powder compacts was investigated in order to assess the particle-addition effects on the foaming behavior. Al compacts without particle addition were also prepared with the same method and foamed. The expansions of Ti64 particle-added compacts were measured to be relatively low at small particle sizes and increased with increasing particle size. At highest particle size range (160–200 μm), particle-added compacts showed expansion behavior similar to that of Al compacts without particle addition, but with lower expansion values. Expansions studies on 30–45 μm size Ti64-added compacts with varying weight percentages showed that the expansion behavior of the compacts became very similar to that of Al compact when the particle content was lower than 2 wt.%. However, Ti64 addition reduced the extent of drainage. Ti64 particles and TiAl3 particles formed during foaming increased the apparent viscosity of the liquid foam and hence reduced the flow of liquid metal from cell walls to plateau borders. The reduced foamability in the compacts with the smaller size Ti64 addition was attributed to the relatively high viscosities, due to the higher cumulative surface area of the particles and higher rate of TiAl3 formation between liquid Al and Ti64 particles.TÜBİTAK for the grant #106M18

Inequity-averse decisions in operational research

This thesis is on inequity-averse decisions in operational research, and draws on concepts from economics and operational research such as multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) and mathematical modelling. The main focus of the study is developing systematic methods and modelling to help decision makers (DMs) in situations where equity concerns are important. We draw on insights from the economics literature and base our methods on some of the widely accepted principles in this area. We discuss two equity related concerns, namely equitability and balance, which are distinguished based on whether anonymity holds or not. We review applications involving these concerns and discuss alternative ways to incorporate such concerns into operational research (OR) models. We point out some future research directions especially in using MCDM concepts in this context. Specifically, we observe that research is needed to design interactive decision support systems. Motivated by this observation, we study an MCDM approach to equitability. Our interactive approach uses holistic judgements of the DM to refine the ranking of an explicitly given (discrete) set of alternatives. The DM is assumed to have a rational preference relation with two additional equity-related axioms, namely anonymity and the Pigou-Dalton principle of transfers. We provide theoretical results that help us handle the computational difficulties due to the anonymity property. We illustrate our approach by designing an interactive ranking algorithm and provide computational results to show computational feasibility. We then consider balance concerns in resource allocation settings. Balance concerns arise when the DM wants to ensure justice over entities, the identities of which might affect the decision. We propose a bi-criteria modelling approach that has efficiency (quantified by the total output) and balance (quantified by the imbalance indicators) related criteria. We solve the models using optimization and heuristic algorithms. Our extensive computational experiments show the satisfactory behaviour of our algorithms

Capturing preferences for inequality aversion in decision support

We investigate the situation where there is interest in ranking distributions (of income, of wealth, of health, of service levels) across a population, in which individuals are considered preferentially indistinguishable and where there is some limited information about social preferences. We use a natural dominance relation, generalized Lorenz dominance, used in welfare comparisons in economic theory. In some settings there may be additional information about preferences (for example, if there is policy statement that one distribution is preferred to another) and any dominance relation should respect such preferences. However, characterising this sort of conditional dominance relation (specifically, dominance with respect to the set of all symmetric increasing quasiconcave functions in line with given preference information) turns out to be computationally challenging. This challenge comes about because, through the assumption of symmetry, any one preference statement (“I prefer giving $100 to Jane and$110 to John over giving $150 to Jane and$90 to John”) implies a large number of other preference statements (“I prefer giving $110 to Jane and$100 to John over giving $150 to Jane and$90 to John”; “I prefer giving $100 to Jane and$110 to John over giving $90 to Jane and$150 to John”). We present theoretical results that help deal with these challenges and present tractable linear programming formulations for testing whether dominance holds between any given pair of distributions. We also propose an interactive decision support procedure for ranking a given set of distributions and demonstrate its performance through computational testing

Bicriteria multiresource generalized assignment problem

In this study,we consider a bicriteria multiresource generalized assignment problem. Our criteria are the total assignment load and maximum assignment load over all agents. We aim to generate all nondominated objective vectors and the corresponding efficient solutions. We propose several lower and upper bounds and use them in our optimization and heuristic algorithms. The computational results have shown the satisfactory behaviors of our approaches. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Capturing preferences for inequality aversion in decision support

We investigate the situation where there is interest in ranking distributions (of income, of wealth, of health, of service levels) across a population, in which individuals are considered preferentially indistinguishable and where there is some limited information about social pref- erences. We use a natural dominance relation, generalized Lorenz dominance, used in welfare comparisons in economic theory. In some settings there may be additional information about preferences (for example, if there is policy statement that one distribution is preferred to an- other) and any dominance relation should respect such preferences. However, characterising this sort of conditional dominance relation (specifically, dominance with respect to the set of all symmetric increasing quasiconcave functions in line with given preference information) turns out to be computationally challenging. This challenge comes about because, through the as- sumption of symmetry, any one preference statement (“I prefer giving $100 to Jane and$110 to John over giving $150 to Jane and$90 to John”) implies a large number of other preference statements (“I prefer giving $110 to Jane and$100 to John over giving $150 to Jane and$90 to John”; “I prefer giving $100 to Jane and$110 to John over giving $90 to Jane and$150 to John”). We present theoretical results that help deal with these challenges and present tractable linear programming formulations for testing whether dominance holds between any given pair of distributions. We also propose an interactive decision support procedure for ranking a given set of distributions and demonstrate its performance through computational testing

Mobilizing preconsciousness social messages: A mixed research on teaching staffBilinç öncesi sosyal mesajların harekete geçirilmesi: Öğretim elemanları üzerine karma araştırma

The purpose of the study is to reveal whether the preconscious messages which are given as social messages to teaching staff, will cause any change in their physical activity habits. And to suggest social marketing strategies which are required to be developed in that direction. The mixed research method and triangulation  model were both used in the study. The teaching staff of AİBÜ Gölköy Campus were the main mass and the study was conducted around 15th January 2015- 25th May 2015. Convenience sampling method was utilized from non-random sampling methods. According to findings of mix research, “both experimental and control groups had awareness on physical activity and they were both affected to valuate themselves on physical activity levels” were concluded. Beside these, another major conclusion was; the preconscious messages which are given to affect control groups’ physical activity habits had negative impact on control group. ÖzetÇalışmanın amacı, öğretim elemanlarına sosyal mesaj olarak verilen bilinç öncesi mesajların fiziksel aktivite alışkanlıkları üzerinde değişim yaratıp yaratmayacağını ortaya koymak, bu yönde gerekli sosyal pazarlama stratejilerinin geliştirilmesinde önerilerde bulunmaktır. Araştırmada, karma araştırma yöntemi ve çeşitleme modelinden yararlanılmıştır. Araştırmada tesadüfi olmayan örnekleme yöntemlerinden, kolayda örnekleme yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Araştırma AİBÜ Gölköy Yerleşkesi’nde 15 Ocak 2015-25 Mayıs 2015 tarihlerinde yürütülmüştür. Uygulanan karma araştırma yöntemi sonucunda hem deney, hem kontrol grubu için fiziksel aktivite konusunda farkındalık ve katılımcıların kendilerini fiziksel aktivite düzeyleri konusunda değerlendirmeleri açısından etki yarattığı sonucuna ulaşılmıştır. Önemli bir diğer sonuç da bilinç öncesi mesajların fiziksel aktivite alışkanlığını etkileme boyutunda deney grubu üzerinde negatif etki yarattığıdır.

Operational Research: Methods and Applications

Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order