Personalized Profiling and Self-Organization as strategies for the formation and support

Mobile and wireless technologies are globally aware therefore so to do institutions have to think globally. By this is meant not simply making learning objects available to international students, but inventing ways to engage students from any geographical location with these objects in such a way that the outcome is knowledge. This paper explores the applicability of personalized profiling as a means to link students studying similar disciplines to each other, and proposes a self-organizing ‘living systems’ model that aims to overcome present impediments to the creation of sustainable, ‘open’, m-learning communities. ‘Open’ m-learning communities are characterized by their ability to self organize and adapt to changing circumstances. Their conceptual framework is systems theoretical, which draws on understandings about the natural world from the biological and physical sciences. Concepts such as “open structure”, “self organization” and “living systems”, have currency in the discourses of information and computing sciences (i.e., the research fields of artificial life and artificial intelligence). In the biological scientific view, the sole purpose of a living organism is to renew itself by opening itself up to its environment, or to another structure. In natural scientific terms, an organism that is in equilibrium is a dead organism. Living organisms continually maintain themselves in a state far from equilibrium, which is the state of life. The transfer of understandings about the operations of living systems is evident in the approaches of computer game designers and programmers, where “swarming” and other empathetic behaviours of organisms such as bees, fireflies and even stem cells, provide the basis for the design of software to support massively multi-user on-line gaming. This new knowledge may have applicability in new approaches to m-learning, for example, through learner selfprofiling and the automated matching of learner profiles to other learners and learning opportunities. The first step in this process is that of understanding how the specificities of emerging mobile and wireless technologies might facilitate open m_learning and the formation of m-learning communities.Griffith University, Queensland, Australi

The Impact of Integrated Movement-Based Activities on Primary School Aged Students in the Classroom

Movement-based activities can have benefits for children from early childhood and into formal education. However, most current research concerns movement-based activities which are a part of physical education classes. Integrated movement-based activities are activities that involve physical movement that is used to teach subjects other than physical education in the primary curriculum. For example, asking students to demonstrate their understanding of the water cycle by using movement to act out the process. The purpose of this study is to outline the impact that integrated movement-based activities such as this can have on primary school-aged students. To answer this research question the study was separated into three phases which were conducted in both lower and upper primary classrooms. The data were collected using student guided self-reflection journals, numeracy tests, self-rating scales of concentration, teacher interviews, and researcher observations and reflections. The data were then analyzed using open-coding methods. It was found that when a supportive classroom environment and structure is established, integrated movement-based activities can impact positively on students\u27 concentration, enjoyment of learning, engagement in learning, and interpersonal relationships

Using Project Production Methodology to Compare Onsite Prefabrication Steel Erection to Traditional Stick-Built

Project production management provides continuity, predictability, and optimization of a process in comparison to the traditional approach of project management. Prefabrication is an example of project production management in which there is continuity of the product, reduced variability, and where the assembly process can be altered for best results. This paper will examine the benefits of project production management and compare two methods of steel erection in which one method performs an onsite prefabrication process while the other method employs the traditional stick-built process. The two methods will be modeled by a tool that replicates a repetitive process similar to a production system through the use of symbols. This tool also enables data like the duration of tasks, the required demand of the system or assembly, the amount of inventory available to be inputted, and can also calculate the capacity utilization of machinery or crews working. The two different methods will be analyzed through the scope of project production management using a tool called a Process Mapper. The resulting conclusion will be that the onsite prefabrication method will be shown to better utilize labor resources and be a safer approach in comparison to the traditional method

Submerged Thin Plate Weirs With Unequal Upstream and Downstream Beds

This thesis describes a short study to examine the behaviour of submerged flow over a thin plate weir with differing upstream and downstream bed levels i.e. an unequal bed weir as opposed to an equal bed weir where the upstream and downstream beds are at the same level. As submerged weir flow is a function of downstream conditions, it was thought that a lower downstream bed would make submerged flow over the weir easier, This is turn suggested that; The shape of the upstream head (Hu) vs downstream head (Hd) graph would change, being initially more steep in the unequal bed case. The Froude Number of the approaching flow would be lower for the unequal bed weir than for an equal bed weir at the same submergence. Using one of the existing submerged flow formula would lead to an erroneous calculated value. A series of measurements was done on two model weirs of different sizes subject to successive levels of submergence. Analysis of the readings of upstream and downstream heads indicated that the difference in bed levels was significant and the three effects above were noted. The work also suggested a new form of equation to calculate flow over a submerged weir. This was looked at briefly

The Impact of Integrated Movement-Based Activities on Primary School Aged Students in the Classroom

Movement-based activities can have benefits for children from informal early childhood settings to more formal education contexts in primary schools. Integrated movement-based activities (IMBAs) are activities involving physical movement that are used to teach subjects other than physical education in the primary school curriculum. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact that IMBAs have on primary school aged students. The study was conducted in lower and upper primary classrooms. The data was collected from the perspectives of students, teachers and a researcher using self-reflection journals, numeracy tests, self-rating scales of concentration levels, teacher interviews and researcher observations and reflections. The data was then analysed using open-coding methods. The study found that, when a supporting and structured classroom environment is established, IMBAs impact positively on students’ concentration, enjoyment of learning, engagement in learning and interpersonal relationships