Evaluation System Design and Academic Performance Analysis Using Clustering and Simulation

The starting point of this study was to understand the possible causes of evaluation system change in a military academic environment. With that motivation the objectives of this study were defined as examining student profiles in a military academy, establishing the nature of academic performance, comparing student groups that were identified by course scores, analyzing student performance changes over time and developing a manageable evaluation system and curriculum by comparing different scenarios. An analysis was performed on the literature on academic performance prediction, cluster analysis methodologies and their development, and specifically summarized cluster analytic academic performance studies where these two fields intersected. The study started with data collection, database creation and preparation for clustering and simulation studies. A two step clustering methodology was used for grouping courses and cadets. The validated cluster distributions were used as inputs into simulation study. The simulation study started with modeling cadet movements among clusters over stages. The distribution of clusters was found for each course and the scores were transferred into grades using information gathered from historic data. A new evaluation system design procedure was summarized starting with benchmark examples. Then a simulation was used for the evaluation of new system design settings. Assumptions of the simulation study were evaluated. Parameter settings and decision variables were defined and simulation experiments were conducted and results were interpreted by output analysis. The study concludes with a summary of possible outcomes for alternative system designs. During this study it was observed that academic performance is affected by many cognitive noncognitive and demographic variables. Complex human behavior and its interactions with educational environment make it unpredictable. Though, any curriculum or evaluation system development study should focus on these differences and the difficulties due to variation among students

Handling Emergency Management in [an] Object Oriented Modeling Environment

It has been understood that protection of a nation from extreme disasters is a challenging task. Impacts of extreme disasters on a nation's critical infrastructures, economy and society could be devastating. A protection plan itself would not be sufficient when a disaster strikes. Hence, there is a need for a holistic approach to establish more resilient infrastructures to withstand extreme disasters. A resilient infrastructure can be defined as a system or facility that is able to withstand damage, but if affected, can be readily and cost-effectively restored. The key issue to establish resilient infrastructures is to incorporate existing protection plans with comprehensive preparedness actions to respond, recover and restore as quickly as possible, and to minimize extreme disaster impacts. Although national organizations will respond to a disaster, extreme disasters need to be handled mostly by local emergency management departments. Since emergency management departments have to deal with complex systems, they have to have a manageable plan and efficient organizational structures to coordinate all these systems. A strong organizational structure is the key in responding fast before and during disasters, and recovering quickly after disasters. In this study, the entire emergency management is viewed as an enterprise and modelled through enterprise management approach. Managing an enterprise or a large complex system is a very challenging task. It is critical for an enterprise to respond to challenges in a timely manner with quick decision making. This study addresses the problem of handling emergency management at regional level in an object oriented modelling environment developed by use of TopEase software. Emergency Operation Plan of the City of Hampton, Virginia, has been incorporated into TopEase for analysis. The methodology used in this study has been supported by a case study on critical infrastructure resiliency in Hampton Roads

Angiographic assessment of variants of basal vein of Rosenthal in idiopathic subarachnoid hemorrhage

Previous studies have reported the possible contribution of a primitive variant of the basal vein of Rosenthal (BVR) in the cause of idiopathic subarachnoid hemorrhage (ISAH). The purpose of this study was to assess the drainage patterns of the BVR among ISAH patients. The venous phase at cerebral angiography was retrospectively analyzed in 19 patients with ISAH and then compared with patients with unruptured aneurysms as controls. A relationship was found between ISAH and the presence of a primitive variant. However, the venous configuration effect on bleeding is still unknown

Bedside ultrasound diagnosis of urethral calculus in emergency depar tment

A 22-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with penile pain and acute urinary retention. The patient had a tender and painful mass along the distal volar surface of the penis, 5 cm away from the external urethral meatus. Bedside ultrasound was performed in the emergency department. Revealing penile urethral calculus in the emergency department with bedside sonography allowed a prompt diagnosis for the patient without additional invasion or radiation exposing diagnostic modalities such as Xray, CT or retrograde urethrography

Content Analysis of Research Trends in Instructional Design Models: 1999-2014

WOS: 000396577300008This study examines studies on instructional design models by applying content analysis. It covers 113 papers published in 44 international Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Science Citation Index (SCI) journals. Studies on instructional design models are explored in terms of journal of publication, preferred model, country where the study was conducted, research method, data collection tool, data analysis method, sampling interval, and field in which the model was applied. Studies are also examined in terms of variables, focusing on connections with model used, relevant results, and orientation of the model (e.g., system-oriented, class-oriented, or product-oriented). Results identified the most preferred models as ADDIE, ARCS, Gagne and Briggs, 4C-ID, and Dick and Carey. System-based instructional design models were most common. These results show recent trends in instructional design models and will contribute to both researchers and instructional designers