Effect of Text Messaging and Cellphone Use on a Multi-sensory Tracking Task

This experiment studied subjects’ performance on a continuous multisensory tracking task. Different theories suggest that there is a decrease in performance due to attentional capacity; furthermore, talking or texting on a mobile phone will negatively affect task performance. Twenty-four college-age students were recruited to be tested on the Biodex Balance System SD with the texting condition, talking on a mobile phone condition, and control condition. Results showed that text messaging while performing a continuous multisensory tracking task negatively affected performance. There was no significant difference, however, between the control condition and talking on a mobile phone while completing the task. Results suggest that talking on a mobile phone has become second-nature to this sub-set of the population, thus not exceeding the resource capacity. However, the text messaging condition proved to be a more challenging secondary task, causing the amount of attention needed for this task to be increased. Attention was diverted from the primary task, causing a decrease in performance. It can be concluded that texting while performing a multi-sensory tracking task can have deleterious effects on attention. These findings have a direct application to texting while driving; it is not possible to safely communicate via text message while operating a motor vehicle

Tensions of Integration in Professional Formation: Investigating Development of Engineering Students\u27 Social and Technical Perceptions

Tensions of Integration in Professional Formation: Investigating Development of Engineering Students\u27 Social and Technical PerceptionsTwenty-first century engineers face incredible challenges and opportunities, many of which aresocially complex, transcending the traditional “technical” boundaries of engineering. Thetechnology produced by engineers must not only function as predicted by mathematical andtheoretical models but must also operate beneficially and seamlessly in complex social contexts.In this sense, engineers must embody an integrated social and technical – or sociotechnical –identity rather than a dualistic social/technical one.A growing body of scholarship has discussed how dominant cultures of engineering shapestudents’ and professionals’ understandings of social and technical dimensions of their work.Further, engineering education research has advanced understanding of how engineering identityis formed by external, structural forces. Yet, from a psychological perspective, we know littleabout how engineering students come to perceive and embody their identities as engineers,especially in relation to social and technical dimensions of these identities. Thus, we organizedthis study around the following research questions.RQ0: How do students psychologically experience identity trajectories of becoming engineers?RQ1: How do students perceive the social and technical features of engineering identity?RQ2: How do students internally experience their identities as engineers, particularly with regard to social and technical dimensions of these identities?RQ3: How do social and technical perceptions of their engineering identity develop and change in the course of the engineering curriculum or in the transition to the workplace?To respond to these research questions, we have conducted two longitudinal studies usinginterpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). One study focused on graduating seniors as theytransitioned into the workplace, and the second study focused on first-year students transitioningto engineering degree coursework. These investigations produced robust and nuancedunderstanding of students’ engineering identity trajectories throughout and beyond thecurriculum. These findings are being leveraged in order to provide our initial understanding in athematic analysis on sophomore engineering students.Thus far, the findings of the investigation highlight the complexity of becoming both engineers,specifically by demonstrating a somewhat contradictory relationship between what participantsperceived to be engineering and how they actually embodied an engineering-self. They furtherdemonstrate the manifold ways that participants realized and prioritized identities outside ofengineering and how these multiple selves interacted in ways that affected their engineeringidentities. Additionally, findings for both male and female groups suggest that somepsychological patterns might be related to gender. In sum, the findings depict a complex pictureof engineering-students-turned-engineers as whole persons. By focusing on how engineeringidentity development is embodied, the findings generate multiple theoretical insights that bearrelevance for engineering education research and provocative implications that bear significancefor engineering educators, students, and employers

A novel link between the proteasome pathway and the signal transduction pathway of the Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs)

BACKGROUND: The intracellular signaling events of the Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMPs) involve the R-Smad family members Smad1, Smad5, Smad8 and the Co-Smad, Smad4. Smads are currently considered to be DNA-binding transcriptional modulators and shown to recruit the master transcriptional co-activator CBP/p300 for transcriptional activation. SNIP1 is a recently discovered novel repressor of CBP/p300. Currently, the detailed molecular mechanisms that allow R-Smads and Co-Smad to co-operatively modulate transcription events are not fully understood. RESULTS: Here we report a novel physical and functional link between Smad1 and the 26S proteasome that contributes to Smad1- and Smad4-mediated transcriptional regulation. Smad1 forms a complex with a proteasome β subunit HsN3 and the ornithine decarboxylase antizyme (Az). The interaction is enhanced upon BMP type I receptor activation and occur prior to the incorporation of HsN3 into the mature 20S proteasome. Furthermore, BMPs trigger the translocation of Smad1, HsN3 and Az into the nucleus, where the novel CBP/p300 repressor protein SNIP1 is further recruited to Smad1/HsN3/Az complex and degraded in a Smad1-, Smad4- and Az-dependent fashion. The degradation of the CBP/p300 repressor SNIP1 is likely an essential step for Smad1-, Smad4-mediated transcriptional activation, since increased SNIP1 expression inhibits BMP-induced gene responses. CONCLUSIONS: Our studies thus add two additional important functional partners of Smad1 into the signaling web of BMPs and also suggest a novel mechanism for Smad1 and Smad4 to co-modulate transcription via regulating proteasomal degradation of CBP/p300 repressor SNIP1

Creative Thinking and Modelling for the Decision Support in Water Management

This paper reviews the state of art in knowledge and preferences elicitation techniques. The purpose of the study was to evaluate various cognitive mapping techniques in order to conclude with the identification of the optimal technique for the NetSyMod methodology. Network Analysis Creative System Modelling (NetSyMod) methodology has been designed for the improvement of decision support systems (DSS) with respect to the environmental problems. In the paper the difference is made between experts and stakeholders knowledge and preference elicitation methods. The suggested technique is very similar to the Nominal Group Techniques (NGT) with the external representation of the analysed problem by means of the Hodgson Hexagons. The evolving methodology is undergoing tests within several EU-funded projects such as: ITAES, IISIM, NostrumDSS

Volume sculpting based on geometric tools

The analysis of volumetric datasets is the main concern in many areas ranging from geophysics to biomedical sciences. The direct visualization of these data plays an important role in this scenario, and in spite of developments in volume visualization techniques, interacting with large datasets still demands research efforts due to perceptual and performance issues. There is a need of interactive sculpting tools which can provide an intuitive way to examine and explore inner parts of the datasets, as well as to fill missing data for specific purposes. In this paper we report the development of interactive, intuitive and easy-to-use sculpting tools, which specify regions within the volume to be discarded from rendering, thus allowing inspection of the volume interior, and to be filled with material to build virtual structures in the volume. Interactive rates for these sculpting tools were obtained by running special fragment programs on the graphics hardware. The tools were implemented using two interaction metaphors (virtual pointer and virtual hand) and following different approaches in terms of devices and single versus two-handed interaction. We report the evaluation of these approaches in detail and concluded that the use of two different devices together presents a better performance and are preferred by users. Moreover, the use of virtual hand interaction provided better results than using the virtual pointer during the tests

Preparing Engineers for the Workplace Through Service Learning: Perceptions of EPICS Alumni

Background: Service‐learning programs that emphasize engineering design have been posited to bolster the professional preparedness of engineering alumni. However, we know little about how such programs actually prepare engineers for the workplace. Nor does prior literature fully explain how characteristics of these programs affect professional preparation. Purpose: This study investigates how alumni perceive the impact of one service‐learning program, Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS), in preparing them for the workplace. We seek to provide empirical and theoretical foundations about how this program affected the alumni\u27s perceptions of how they were prepared for professional practice. Design/Method: This investigation was an embedded, sequential mixed‐methods study, which began by administering a survey to 523 participants. On the basis of survey responses, we interviewed 27 participants and conducted a thematic analysis of transcripts to describe how participants related their EPICS experiences to the workplace. Results: The findings describe how alumni perceived the role of EPICS in preparing them for the workplace. The thematic analysis reveals how alumni perceived the nature of their preparation through three themes: EPICS was a bridge from education to practice, EPICS provided a means for gaining workplace experience, and EPICS developed a variety of professional skills. Conclusions: Grounded in alumni perspectives, this study demonstrates a strong link between participating in service‐learning activities and navigating the complexity of the workplace. Finally, we identify three key characteristics of EPICS that are transferable to other institutions

Engineering Service-learning: A Model for Preparing Students for Engineering Practice While Meeting the Needs of the Underserved

Preparing tomorrow\u27s global engineering leaders requires a strong technical foundation as well as a broad set of professional skills. Integrating these into the undergraduate curriculum can be challenging within traditional courses. One approach that has shown success is service-learning, which engages students in meetings needs of local or global communities. An engineering exemplar of service-learning approach is the EPICS (Engineering Projects in Community Service) Program founded at Purdue University and disseminated to more than 20 other universities. This paper describes the EPICS model and how it has been disseminated and discusses data on student perception and learning

Impact of the EPICS Model for Community-engaged Learning and Design Education

Design experiences offer opportunities for students to develop a wide range of technical and professional skills. Community-engagement or service-learning is becoming more pervasive in engineering and offers opportunities for students to engage in designs that address human, community and environmental needs. Connecting engineering with these areas is cited in the literature as a means to potentially enhance diversity and retention. Analyses in this paper indeed show a positive impact on the retention of students who engage in the EPICS Program early in their academic program and female students in particular. Furthermore, there are many benefits of extended design experiences and the data shows that participation over multiple semesters has a significant impact on the depth of the experiences. In addition to the personal benefits, the participation of students over multiple years also offers opportunities for mentoring younger students within the course and can further impact the diversity and retention efforts

Making Sense of Design: A Thematic Analysis of Alumni Perspectives

Making Sense of Design: A Thematic Analysis of Alumni Experiences of Design in SLPX Design is a topic of significant interest among engineering education researchers. In efforts to identify how students learn design, several significant engineering education studies have discussed how students enact design behavior, how they construe their understandings of design, and how they develop in their design ways of thinking and doing. While the motivations for these studies are diverse, many address a large and common question confronting engineering education – how do we prepare twenty-first century engineers to design effective solutions for complex problems? In practice, the response to this overarching question has taken many forms in engineering education. Often, curricula constrain the time of the design experience to fit within the academic calendar and the context to be simulated rather than authentic. In contrast, a multidisciplinary, service-learning program at University X (SLPX) engages students in design experiences within an authentic context and extends over multiple semesters. Several in engineering education have championed SLPX and similar programs for providing such an authentic design experience, but no prior studies have investigated how such experiences shape the student’s design knowledge, ability, and identity after graduation. In other words, how do alumni of SLPX make sense of their experiences in the program in light of their design experiences in industry? How do these early-career engineers understand and enact design from their experiences in SLPX? This paper presents the findings of a thematic analysis related to how alumni connect their design experiences in SLPX to their design experiences in industry. Further, this paper presents findings focused on the alumni’s design experience and is part of from a larger embedded, sequential mixed-methods study on the overall alumni experience and the impact of the SLPX. A diverse range of alumni (n = 27) were purposively sampled from participants of a previous survey (n = 528). Our interview protocol was informed by both the survey responses of alumni and the objectives of this larger investigation. We approached the analysis phase of this study with a rigorous thematic analysis that involved multiple angles and iterations of studying the participants’ interview transcripts. Through this analysis, we have seen the design theme to be quite pervasive throughout the participants’ accounts. The alumni communicate transference of their design experiences in SLPX to their current practice, albeit to varying degrees and in nuanced ways. The objective of this paper, then, is to make visible how authentic design experiences, such as SLPX, affect alumni in their design ability and understanding in their careers. We discuss the multiple and also common ways that alumni understand and enact design because of their experiences in SLPX. We organize these findings and present them in detail, grounding them in literature from design studies and engineering education and extending scholarship in these areas. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings for engineering design educators