E-Learning Performance and Students’ Results Case of a French Business School

E-learning experiments in higher education are becoming more recurrent. However, these experiments are seldom tangibly applied to an entire academic year group. Integrating e-learning into a pedagogical program implies performance analysis in terms of both students and teachers, but also from the institute’s point of view. Due to the lack of Information Systems based research into e-learning performance modeling, the article propose an analysis mixing this research area with some findings in Education Sciences. The first part of this article presents an analysis of the main scientific publications on which we have built our research model. The second part presents the initial findings of our on-going research project at Montpellier Business School (France). A comparison between traditional teaching and face-to-face teaching was carried out using the student marks in five different courses of study. The results show that the teachers’ predisposition to adopting these new teaching techniques is not directly related to an improvement in the students\u27 results. In other words, the paper is consistent with the need to avoid any techno-centered approach to on-line education. In the same way, the article concludes that a measure of the e-learning performance must not be limited to the students’ results alone. Indeed, the case studied puts forward that the legitimacy of an e-learning project can lie more in the satisfaction of being able to meet new strategic challenges through its development, than in simply improving an existing teaching tool

Conserves anciennes

Houzé . Conserves anciennes (A propos de la communication de M. Fiasson) par le vétérinaire commandant Houzé (Note présentée par M. Guillot) . In: Bulletin de l'Académie Vétérinaire de France tome 109 n°7, 1956. pp. 323-326

El Juego de Rol Narrativo como herramienta en una clase de idiomas para universitarios

[ES] Este proyecto se enmarca en una tesis sobre el Juego de Rol Narrativo [a partir de ahora JdR] en una clase de Francés Lengua Extranjera para universitarios y se inició en el curso 2021-2022 en la carrera de Filología Moderna: Inglés para la asignatura de Lengua Francesa III. El JdR que usamos se basa en un ambiente oscuro similar al género de terror cósmico basados en las novelas del autor americano H.P. Lovecraft. Gracias a ello, queremos saber primero si el JdR puede ser un recurso útil en el aula universitaria como técnica de aprendizaje de un idioma extranjero y segundo si es posible transferir este recurso a varios niveles, carreras o idiomas. Para desarrollar el proyecto, nos centramos en el marco teórico basado en teorías constructivistas, en el enfoque por competencias, en el aprendizaje experiencial y por último en el enfoque comunicativo. El proyecto se inició gracias a unas entrevistas semiestructuradas a cinco Directores de Juego. Después de haber analizado una parte de los resultados, planteamos el proyecto en cuatro fases en las que introdujimos paulatinamente a los estudiantes contenidos comunicativos y narrativos con el fin de fomentar la intercreatividad (David, 2015) y el aprendizaje. El hilo conductor que elegimos fue la Francia del siglo XVIII, siglo prolífico desde un punto de vista cultural, político y social y marcado por el caso de la Bestia de Gévaudan que nos permitió basarnos en el juego de mesa de los Hombres Lobo de Castronegro para crear nuestro JdR de terror. Por los primeros resultados obtenidos, podemos observar que los estudiantes respondieron de forma positiva considerando que el JdR reforzó habilidades sociales, comunicativas y lingüísticas. Sin embargo, podemos aprender mucho todavía de este proyecto al hacer ajustes temáticos, tecnológicos y organizativos para posteriores usos en el aula

Can treatment of malaria be restricted to parasitologically confirmed malaria? A school-based study in Benin in children with and without fever

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Applying the switch from presumptive treatment of malaria to new policies of anti-malarial prescriptions restricted to parasitologically-confirmed cases is a still unsolved challenge. Pragmatic studies can provide data on consequences of such a switch. In order to assess whether restricting anti-malarials to rapid diagnostic test (RDT)-confirmed cases in children of between five and 15 years of age is consistent with an adequate management of fevers, a school-based study was performed in Allada, Benin.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Children in the index group (with fever and a negative RDT) and the matched control group (without fever and a negative RDT) were not prescribed anti-malarials and actively followed-up during 14 days. Blood smears were collected at each assessment. Self-medication with chloroquine and quinine was assessed with blood spots. Malaria attacks during the follow-up were defined by persistent or recurrent fever concomitant to a positive malaria test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>484 children were followed-up (242 in each group). At day 3, fever had disappeared in 94% of children from the index group. The incidence of malaria was similar (five cases in the index group and seven cases in the control group) between groups. Self-medication with chloroquine and quinine in this cohort was uncommon.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Applying a policy of restricting anti-malarials to RDT-confirmed cases is consistent with an adequate management of fevers in this population. Further studies on the management of fever in younger children are of upmost importance.</p

Performance Factors of a Full Distance Learning : The Case of Undergraduate Students in Academic Exchange

Various e-learning systems have been developed and implemented in educational contexts. However, few studies try to go beyond the experimental level of identifying numerous factors that influence this technology and apply them to a real academic class of students. This article based on an in-depth analysis of a business school case--Montpellier Business School (France)--and survey data from 405 students assessed on their use of the e-learning platform, helps illuminate the patterns involved in e-learning performance. A literature review on e-learning performance factors is realized and a theoretical model focusing on three dimensions of e-learning performance--the learner side, the institutional environment and the e-learning system per se--is presented and tested empirically. The key findings of this paper identify motivation and self-discipline of students as main drivers of e-learning outcomes. Other results show that the integration of e-learning in a pedagogical program requires the analysis of its performance not only from learners and instructors point of view, but also from the underlying strategic perspective of the institution

De-pollution efficacy of photocatalytic roofing granules

Photocatalytic building surfaces can harness sunlight to reduce urban air pollution. The NOx abatement capacity of TiO2-coated granules used in roofing products was evaluated for commercial product development. A laboratory test chamber and ancillary setup were built following conditions prescribed by ISO Standard 22197-1. It was validated by exposing reference P25-coated aluminum plates to a 3 L min−1 air flow enriched in 1 ppm NO under UVA irradiation (360 nm, 11.5 W m−2). We characterized prototype granule-surfaced asphalt shingles and loose granules prepared with different TiO2 loadings and post-treatment formulations. Tests performed at surface temperatures of 25 and 60 °C showed that NOx abatement was more effective at the higher temperature. Preliminary tests explored the use of 1 ppm NO2 and of 1 ppm and 0.3 ppm NO/NO2 mixtures. Specimens were aged in a laboratory accelerated weathering apparatus, and by exposure to the outdoor environment over periods that included dry and rainy seasons. Laboratory aging led to higher NO removal and NO2 formation rates, and the same catalyst activation was observed after field exposure with frequent precipitation. However, exposure during the dry season reduced the performance. This inactivation was mitigated by cleaning the surface of field-exposed specimens. Doubling the TiO2 loading led to a 50–150% increase in NO removal and NOx deposition rates. Application of different post-treatment coatings decreased NO removal rates (21–35%) and NOx deposition rates (26–74%) with respect to untreated granules. The mass balance of nitrogenated species was assessed by extracting granules after UV exposure in a 1 ppm NO-enriched atmosphere

Evaluation of the Clearview® malaria pLDH malaria rapid diagnostic test in a non-endemic setting

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) are widely used to diagnose malaria. The present study evaluated a new RDT, the Clearview^®Malaria pLDH test targeting the pan-<it>Plasmodium </it>antigen lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Clearview^®Malaria pLDH test was evaluated on fresh samples obtained in returned international travellers using microscopy corrected by PCR as the reference method. Included samples were <it>Plasmodium falciparum </it>(139), <it>Plasmodium vivax </it>(22), <it>Plasmodium ovale </it>(20), <it>Plasmodium malariae </it>(7), and 102 negative.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall sensitivity for the detection of <it>Plasmodium </it><it>spp </it>was 93.2%. For <it>P. falciparum</it>, the sensitivity was 98.6%; for <it>P. vivax</it>, <it>P. ovale </it>and <it>P. malariae</it>, overall sensitivities were 90.9%, 60.0% and 85.7% respectively. For <it>P. falciparum </it>and for <it>P. vivax</it>, the sensitivities increased to 100% at parasite densities above 100/μl. The specificity was 100%. The test was easily to perform and the result was stable for at least 1 hour.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The Clearview^®Malaria pLDH was efficient for the diagnosis of malaria. The test was very sensitive for <it>P. falciparum </it>and <it>P. vivax </it>detection. The sensitivities for <it>P. ovale </it>and <it>P. malariae </it>were better than other RDTs</p