Assessing integrative learning among engineering students using a structure-behavior-function framework

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Restoring Values

The content can be viewed at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GAC_GlobalAgendaOutlook_2013.pd

'Digital wildfire' risk considerations and suggestions

陳婉瑩 著，發表於2013年5月28日世界經濟論壇《2013年全球風險報告》(中國專題增補版). The Journal issue's web site is located at http://chinese.weforum.org/grr13Theme: Shaping the New Regional ContextGlobal Risks Report is a publication of World Economic Forumpublished_or_final_versio

Using anomalous data to foster conceptual change in security awareness

Users are often regarded as the weakest link in an information system. To this, information security awareness nowadays gains much attention in organizations, schools, and universities. Since the practice of safe computing involves individual perception, effective pedagogy that can deliver a proper message about security awareness is vital for information security education. This article reports an experiment conducted on 102 university students which determined if anomalous data can provoke conceptual change, and whether anomaly can affect the perception of information security of the students. With evidences found from the experiment, it is concluded that conceptual change fostered by anomalous data is an effective pedagogy for information security education. ©2009 IEEE.published_or_final_versionThe IEEE International Symposium on Intelligent Signal Processing and Communication Systems (ISPACS 2009), Kanazawa, Japan, 7-9 January 2009. In Proceedings of the IEEE ISPACS, 2009, p. 638-64

Assessing student collaboration and learning in medical engineering from the perspectives of structures, behaviors, and function

Learning in biomedical engineering is highly interdisciplinary: students need to integrate concepts between engineering and life sciences, and be able to design and develop technologies with physiological considerations. In this study, biomedical engineering students’ artifacts were analyzed in detail according to the structure-behavior-framework (SBF) framework. The SBF framework has been investigated by educational researchers and learning scientists; in particular, the behavioral and functional dimensions were proved to be related to a sophisticated level of understanding of complex systems. Existing research results also indicate that experts (or expert-like learners) show a deeper understanding of the behavioral and functional aspects of systems. In the current study, a 5- level scale comprising structural, behavioral, andfunctional dimensions of integrated learning was constructed to assess student learning in a biomedical engineering project course. Our results indicate that high achievers and low achievers were different in the behavioral and functional dimensions. The results also indicate significant relationships between behavioral and functional dimensions of learning and students’ final course performance. These findings align with existing results in cognitive science and learning sciences on expert-novice differences, which help connecting engineering educational inquiries to the rich body of literature and findings in human learning

Teaching for conceptual change in security awareness education: A case study in higher education

In educational psychology, conceptual change is a process that revises a student's understanding of a topic in response to new information. Conceptual change pedagogy is particularly effective for security awareness education because instructors must deliver concepts to people who primarily just use computer networks and information systems rather than display expertise in the underlying technology.published_or_final_versio

Teaching for conceptual change in security awareness

The study focused on the teaching for conceptual change in security awareness, where the security awareness training is putting efforts into designing the curriculum for security awareness programs, to make trainees adhere to safe computing practices. The conceptual change is a process that revises the student's understanding of a topic in response to new information. These conceptual change belongs to constructivist pedagogies, and is effective in teaching and learning relatively advanced and complex scientific concepts. The security training often involves advanced terms and concepts, as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and data encryption. The computer and network security demonstrations as anomalous data for training course can be used by the instructors. The study demonstrates the pedagogical model involved in the conceptual change as revealing students preconceptions, discussion and evaluation of preconceptions and creation of conceptual conflict with these preconceptions.published_or_final_versio

Engineering education opportunities, perceptions and career choice of secondary school students in Hong Kong SAR, China

Session Title: Engineering Education and Comparative Studies at Universities throughout Asia, Far East: AC 2012-5321This paper presents an investigation into engineering education opportunities and engagement among secondary school students in Hong Kong SAR, China (HK). We adapted and validated an international questionnaire and executed it in HK secondary schools. The questionnaire is designed to identify pedagogy, students' perception, and experience (formal and informal) of engineering education, and measure their effects on students' career choice in engineering. We investigate how do factors like age, gender, family background (local versus new immigrants), subjects taken at school, and perceptions of the engineering profession affect their career choice in engineering. Identifying factors affecting young people's career choice in engineering is interesting as HK is in an early post-industrial position. Such study can provide an excellent comparative example to contrast between post-industrial societies such as the United States and industrializing societies such as other cities in the mainland China. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.postprin

Extracellular Protease Inhibition Alters the Phenotype of Chondrogenically Differentiating Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) in 3D Collagen Microspheres

Matrix remodeling of cells is highly regulated by proteases and their inhibitors. Nevertheless, how would the chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) be affected, when the balance of the matrix remodeling is disturbed by inhibiting matrix proteases, is incompletely known. Using a previously developed collagen microencapsulation platform, we investigated whether exposing chondrogenically differentiating MSCs to intracellular and extracellular protease inhibitors will affect the extracellular matrix remodeling and hence the outcomes of chondrogenesis. Results showed that inhibition of matrix proteases particularly the extracellular ones favors the phenotype of fibrocartilage rather than hyaline cartilage in chondrogenically differentiating hMSCs by upregulating type I collagen protein deposition and type II collagen gene expression without significantly altering the hypertrophic markers at gene level. This study suggests the potential of manipulating extracellular proteases to alter the outcomes of hMSC chondrogenesis, contributing to future development of differentiation protocols for fibrocartilage tissues for intervertebral disc and meniscus tissue engineering.published_or_final_versio

Macrophages promoted the colony forming ability of putative endometrial stromal stem cells

Poster Session - Blood Disorders & Stem Cell Immunology: no. 69DMM 2011 entitled: Re-engineering Regenerative MedicineWomen with endometriosis have a decreased cell-mediated immunity1 and contain more activated macrophages2. Human endometrial and endometriotic stem/progenitor cells have been identified using the clonogenic assay3, 4 ENREF 4 ENREF 4. Large colony forming units (CFUs, >4000 cells) are initiated from stem/progenitor cells and small CFUs (<4000 cells) are from transit-amplifying cells. Retrograded endometrial stem cells may have a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In this study, the regulatory mechanism between macrophages and putative stem cells was examined. Endometrium (n=12)/ovarian endometrioma (n=16) were obtained from women undergoing hysterectomy and …postprin