Utilizing digital assessment strategies for theory & practical work in mechatronics

In recent times, education has become ubiquitous due to the digital revolution. Learning is now possible from a plethora of online resources in formats such as text, audio, or video. While it is common practice to use digital formats for providing learning resources, many educators still prefer traditional methods such as paper-based (handwritten and/or typed) or in-person for assessment. This is often used to reduce the risk of plagiarism and ghostwriting, or to verify practical work achievement. On the other hand, emphasis is now being placed on learning 21st century skills which includes Information, Media, and Technology Skills (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). These fall under the general umbrella of Digital Literacy Skills. It is important for engineering students to develop these skills because it is very likely they will have use them in their work life as engineers or technicians. For example, manufacturers and suppliers of mechatronics related tools/equipment (e.g. for automation and control) now provide technical resources in digital formats such as web pages, document files, and even videos (Mathworks, n.d.; SchneiderElectric, n.d.). In addition to this, online collaborative work environments across diverse geographic locations are becoming popular and these skills are likely to very valuable. This paper considers the perspective that digital assessment outweighs traditional methods in benefits due to its applicability in the changing work environment. Traditional assessment methods could be used as a secondary tool to follow up when educators have concerns about student work submitted via digital means. Hence, the focus of this paper is on discussing some options for moving towards digital assessment for theory work (such as tests) and practical work in mechatronics related courses on the diploma and degree programmes

Utilizing digital assessment strategies for theory & practical work in mechatronics

In recent times, education has become ubiquitous due to the digital revolution. Learning is now possible from a plethora of online resources in formats such as text, audio, or video. While it is common practice to use digital formats for providing learning resources, many educators still prefer traditional methods such as paper-based (handwritten and/or typed) or in-person for assessment. This is often used to reduce the risk of plagiarism and ghostwriting, or to verify practical work achievement. On the other hand, emphasis is now being placed on learning 21st century skills which includes Information, Media, and Technology Skills (Trilling & Fadel, 2009). These fall under the general umbrella of Digital Literacy Skills. It is important for engineering students to develop these skills because it is very likely they will have use them in their work life as engineers or technicians. For example, manufacturers and suppliers of mechatronics related tools/equipment (e.g. for automation and control) now provide technical resources in digital formats such as web pages, document files, and even videos (Mathworks, n.d.; SchneiderElectric, n.d.). In addition to this, online collaborative work environments across diverse geographic locations are becoming popular and these skills are likely to very valuable. This paper considers the perspective that digital assessment outweighs traditional methods in benefits due to its applicability in the changing work environment. Traditional assessment methods could be used as a secondary tool to follow up when educators have concerns about student work submitted via digital means. Hence, the focus of this paper is on discussing some options for moving towards digital assessment for theory work (such as tests) and practical work in mechatronics related courses on the diploma and degree programmes

Implementing project based learning and tools to develop employability skills for early tertiary learners in engineering education

From recent studies and research, it is clearly defined that 21st century industries/employers seek engineering graduates that have employability skills. From the new trends, major emphasis on practical applications compared to theory is given in engineering education. The pathway from education to employability is critical for an early tertiary learner to establish their career. Currently, industry bodies are actively sourcing graduates that can deliver employability skills such as, professional communication, problem solving and teamwork competency and many more. Learning technical and subject knowledge is essential in engineering, however employers also strive for candidates that can deliver a large range of professional/employability skills (Mishra, 2016). In order to overcome and adapt to new challenges and problematic scenarios, employers look for exceptional employability attributes. This excessive demand of professionally equipped graduates has caused the desire of many universities and institutes to develop their learners with strong theoretical knowledge and embed graduate attributes into courses through assignments and projects (Zaharim et al., 2010). Project based learning (PjBL) has found to be an authentic, modernised and successful teaching and learning pedagogy that has supported this shift from disciplinary theoretical knowledge to practical learning (Shekhar, 2014). This paper presents the overview and implementation of PjBL and educational tools called Rauemi Ipurangi – an online interactive activity-based resource. Also, two imperative questionnaires are designed to gather feedback from the early tertiary learners on the competency of their employability skills to analyse and evaluate the students’ performance. Rauemi Ipurangi is created and developed to focus on three key employability attributes: teamwork, communication and wellbeing. The resource also comprises of ultural/indigenous Māori frameworks known as the model of Te Whare Tapa Wha by M. Durie to promote diversified employability environment in New Zealand. Learner profile & employability skills self-assessment questionnaires are used to collect feedback from the students throughout the semester, to analyse their experience in attaining graduate attributes earlier in their year 1 courses of their engineering programme

Implementing project based learning and tools to develop employability skills for early tertiary learners in engineering education

From recent studies and research, it is clearly defined that 21st century industries/employers seek engineering graduates that have employability skills. From the new trends, major emphasis on practical applications compared to theory is given in engineering education. The pathway from education to employability is critical for an early tertiary learner to establish their career. Currently, industry bodies are actively sourcing graduates that can deliver employability skills such as, professional communication, problem solving and teamwork competency and many more. Learning technical and subject knowledge is essential in engineering, however employers also strive for candidates that can deliver a large range of professional/employability skills (Mishra, 2016). In order to overcome and adapt to new challenges and problematic scenarios, employers look for exceptional employability attributes. This excessive demand of professionally equipped graduates has caused the desire of many universities and institutes to develop their learners with strong theoretical knowledge and embed graduate attributes into courses through assignments and projects (Zaharim et al., 2010). Project based learning (PjBL) has found to be an authentic, modernised and successful teaching and learning pedagogy that has supported this shift from disciplinary theoretical knowledge to practical learning (Shekhar, 2014). This paper presents the overview and implementation of PjBL and educational tools called Rauemi Ipurangi – an online interactive activity-based resource. Also, two imperative questionnaires are designed to gather feedback from the early tertiary learners on the competency of their employability skills to analyse and evaluate the students’ performance. Rauemi Ipurangi is created and developed to focus on three key employability attributes: teamwork, communication and wellbeing. The resource also comprises of cultural/indigenous Māori frameworks known as the model of Te Whare Tapa Wha by M. Durie to promote diversified employability environment in New Zealand. Learner profile & employability skills self-assessment questionnaires are used to collect feedback from the students throughout the semester, to analyse their experience in attaining graduate attributes earlier in their year 1 courses of their engineering programme

Developing Soft Skills to produce Work-Ready International Graduate Diploma Students in Engineering: a Comparative Study

Introduction: Engineering education has increased its emphasis on the development of soft skills to produce work-ready Engineers to meet the requirements of professional accrediting institutions. One key soft skill is confident public speaking. A major impediment to this is confidence with English language, particularly for EAL (English as and Additional Language) students. New Zealand, like many countries, has an “export education” sector: many international students come to study in New Zealand as an EAL speaker. One offering for International students is the Graduate Diploma, a one year qualification for graduate international students which aims to produce work-ready engineers. This paper investigates how performance of Graduate Diploma International (GDI) students differed across two cohorts, the 2019 and 2020 intake, in the area of oral presentation skills, when the classes were structured differently: GDI mixed with Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BET) students, and GDI students placed into a separate group from BET students. Literature: “Soft skills”, such as interpersonal communication, teamwork and professionalism are critical for success in an environment of global competition (Farr and Brazil, 2009) and for developing leadership (Robles, 2012; Development Dimensions International, 2016, as cited in Dishman, 2016). Undergraduate research projects develop soft-skills, especially communication (Carter, Ro, Alcott, and Lattuca, 2016), which can be assessed formally via oral presentations. Oral presentations can be particularly anxiety-inducing for EAL students, due to the additional impediment of speaking in a language with which they are less confident (Woodrow, 2006; Mak, 2011). Methods: We compare the performance of GDI students across two years’ cohorts: 2019 and 2020 in two oral presentations for the Final Year Project (FYP) course: the early presentation occuring in April/May, and the final presentation, in November. Due to class size and staff availability, the students in the 2020 FYP course were split into two groups, one containing all international students (GDI students) and one which contained mainly domestic students (the BET). This resulted in some “field data” on the impact of such a split. We compare the performance of the 2020 cohort of GDI students (n = 43) in their FYP presentations to the performance of the 2019 cohort of GDI students (n = 23). Results: GDI students in the 2020 cohort on average performed better in their oral presentations at both points in the course than GDI students in the 2019 cohort. Conclusion: Oral Communication is a key soft-skill required of work-ready engineers. The Graduate Diploma is a one year qualification that aims to produce work-ready engineers. When Graduate Diploma International students were placed into a group by themselves, they performed better in oral presentations than when placed into a class mixed with Bachelor of Engineering Technology students

Developing soft skills to produce work-ready international graduate diploma students in engineering: A comparative study

The final year project (FYP) in engineering provides an opportunity for students to both develop and demonstrate their professional capabilities and interpersonal skills which are key graduate attributes assessed by accreditors (in accordance with the Washington, International Engineering Alliance, or Sydney Accord), as well as solve complex problems with open-ended projects (Rasul et.al 2009). “Soft skills” are critical professional capabilities, required by the Engineering New Zealand professional body, that must be integrated into the FYP to meet the graduate profile for Graduate Diploma International (GDI) students. This demand comes at a time when engineers are increasingly called upon to play an active role in addressing global challenges facing humanity in the twenty-first century (Bernard 2019)

Immune synapse formation requires ZAP-70 recruitment by ezrin and CD43 removal by moesin

Immunological synapse (IS) formation involves receptor–ligand pair clustering and intracellular signaling molecule recruitment with a coincident removal of other membrane proteins away from the IS. As microfilament–membrane linkage is critical to this process, we investigated the involvement of ezrin and moesin, the two ezrin/radixin/moesin proteins expressed in T cells. We demonstrate that ezrin and moesin, which are generally believed to be functionally redundant, are differentially localized and have important and complementary functions in IS formation. Specifically, we find that ezrin directly interacts with and recruits the signaling kinase ZAP-70 to the IS. Furthermore, the activation of ezrin by phosphorylation is essential for this process. In contrast, moesin dephosphorylation and removal, along with CD43, are necessary to prepare a region of the cell cortex for IS. Thus, ezrin and moesin have distinct and critical functions in the T cell cortex during IS formation

Canine tumor cross-species genomics uncovers targets linked to osteosarcoma progression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pulmonary metastasis continues to be the most common cause of death in osteosarcoma. Indeed, the 5-year survival for newly diagnosed osteosarcoma patients has not significantly changed in over 20 years. Further understanding of the mechanisms of metastasis and resistance for this aggressive pediatric cancer is necessary. Pet dogs naturally develop osteosarcoma providing a novel opportunity to model metastasis development and progression. Given the accelerated biology of canine osteosarcoma, we hypothesized that a direct comparison of canine and pediatric osteosarcoma expression profiles may help identify novel metastasis-associated tumor targets that have been missed through the study of the human cancer alone.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using parallel oligonucleotide array platforms, shared orthologues between species were identified and normalized. The osteosarcoma expression signatures could not distinguish the canine and human diseases by hierarchical clustering. Cross-species target mining identified two genes, interleukin-8 (<it>IL-8</it>) and solute carrier family 1 (glial high affinity glutamate transporter), member 3 (<it>SLC1A3</it>), which were uniformly expressed in dog but not in all pediatric osteosarcoma patient samples. Expression of these genes in an independent population of pediatric osteosarcoma patients was associated with poor outcome (p = 0.020 and p = 0.026, respectively). Validation of <it>IL-8 </it>and <it>SLC1A3 </it>protein expression in pediatric osteosarcoma tissues further supported the potential value of these novel targets. Ongoing evaluation will validate the biological significance of these targets and their associated pathways.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Collectively, these data support the strong similarities between human and canine osteosarcoma and underline the opportunities provided by a comparative oncology approach as a means to improve our understanding of cancer biology and therapies.</p

Comparison of Bone Mineral Density in Thalassemia Major Patients with Healthy Controls

Chronic hemoglobinopathies like thalassemia are associated with many osteopathies like osteoporosis. Methods. This observational study was carried out to compare the bone mineral density (BMD) in transfusion dependent thalassemics with that of healthy controls. Thirty-two thalassemia patients, aged 2–18 years, and 32 age and sex matched controls were studied. The bone mineral concentration (BMC) and BMD were assessed at lumbar spine, distal radius, and neck of femur. Biochemical parameters like serum calcium and vitamin D levels were also assessed. Results. The BMC of neck of femur was significantly low in cases in comparison to controls. We also observed significantly lower BMD at the lumbar spine in cases in comparison to controls. A significantly positive correlation was observed between serum calcium levels and BMD at neck of femur. Conclusion. Hence, low serum calcium may be used as a predictor of low BMD especially in populations where incidence of hypovitaminosis D is very high