Why decision support systems are important for medical education

During the last decades the inclusion of digital tools in health education has rapidly lead to a continuously enlarging digital era. All the online interactions between learners and tutors, the description, creation, reuse and sharing of educational digital resources and the interlinkage between them in conjunction with cheap storage technology has led to an enormous amount of educational data. Medical education is a unique type of education due to accuracy of information needed, continuous changing competences required and alternative methods of education used. Nowadays medical education standards provide the ground for organizing the educational data and the paradata. Analysis of such education data through education data mining techniques is in its infancy, but decision support systems for medical education need further research. To the best of our knowledge, there is a gap and a clear need for identifying the challenges for decision support systems in medical education in the era of medical education standards. Thus, in this paper the role and the attributes of such a decision support system for medical education are delineated and the challenges and vision for future actions are identified

[11C]acetate PET/CT Visualizes Skeletal Muscle Exercise Participation, Impaired Function, and Recovery after Hip Arthroplasty; First Results

Based on skeletal muscle acetate physiology we aimed studying muscle function after hip arthroplasty with [(11)C]acetate PET

A multidimensional evaluation framework for personal learning environments

Evaluating highly dynamic and heterogeneous Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) is extremely challenging. Components of PLEs are selected and configured by individual users based on their personal preferences, needs, and goals. Moreover, the systems usually evolve over time based on contextual opportunities and constraints. As such dynamic systems have no predefined configurations and user interfaces, traditional evaluation methods often fall short or are even inappropriate. Obviously, a host of factors influence the extent to which a PLE successfully supports a learner to achieve specific learning outcomes. We categorize such factors along four major dimensions: technological, organizational, psycho-pedagogical, and social. Each dimension is informed by relevant theoretical models (e.g., Information System Success Model, Community of Practice, self-regulated learning) and subsumes a set of metrics that can be assessed with a range of approaches. Among others, usability and user experience play an indispensable role in acceptance and diffusion of the innovative technologies exemplified by PLEs. Traditional quantitative and qualitative methods such as questionnaire and interview should be deployed alongside emergent ones such as learning analytics (e.g., context-aware metadata) and narrative-based methods. Crucial for maximal validity of the evaluation is the triangulation of empirical findings with multi-perspective (end-users, developers, and researchers), mixed-method (qualitative, quantitative) data sources. The framework utilizes a cyclic process to integrate findings across cases with a cross-case analysis in order to gain deeper insights into the intriguing questions of how and why PLEs work

Data and Metadata in Architectural Repositories

In many schools all over the world, teachers as well as researchers have been developing digital learning contents. These contents exist mostly in isolation, that means in and within a school or in the personal files, although it would be much more profitable to the community of teachers in architecture to share the results of all these efforts. In this paper we present and discuss two different strategies regarding this ambition: The first develops digital pedagogical material and tries to invite others to contribute in order to create a big repository. As an example we will present DYNAMO, a dynamic architectural memory on-line built over the last 8 years, with to date more than 600 architectural projects fully documented with plans, pictures, texts and a fairly developed category search engine. In the second approach every owner of a repository keeps his/her data and shares its content with others through a central search engine. As an example we will present and discuss a recently launched EU-programme called MACE - Metadata for Architectural Contents in Europe - which aims at enhancing the metadata of as many as possible different repositories in order to allow searches by distant partners. Real access conditions to the data still will remain those specific for each repository. The purpose of this paper is to share information and (similar?) experiences in Asia or outside Europe in general

Metadata in architecture education - First evaluation results of the MACE system.

The paper focuses on the MACE (Metadata for Architectural Contents in Europe) system and its usage in architecture education at the university level. We report on the various extensions made to the system, describe some of the new functionality and give rst results on the evaluation of the MACE System. Several universities were involved with signicant student groups in the evaluation, so that the indications described here are already highly trustable. First results show that using MACE increases student performance signicantly. Paper AWARDED BY the EA-TEL (European Association Technology Enhanced Learning

Sharing and Enriching Metadata in Architectural Repositories

All over the world, students and teachers in architecture have been developing learning materials in various digital formats. Unfortunately, the material is not shared across school boundaries, and thus not exploited to its full extent. Mostly, technical and organisational limitations hamper the sharing and exchange of learning material, although this would benefit the global community of students and teachers in architecture. This paper presents a recently launched EU-initiative called MACE ? Metadata for Architectural Contents in Europe ? which aims at creating a European-wide space for the electronic descriptions of architectural information to be used in architectural education. The idea is to exchange and enhance the metadata of as many as possible digital repositories in order to allow searches by distant partners. Real access conditions to the data still remain those specific for each repository. By describing and discussing this initiative in its early stage, the paper aims to benefit from the exchange of ideas and experiences with similar initiatives, and to trigger the interest of new repository owners to join MACE