Tailored gamification and serious game framework based on fuzzy logic for saving energy in connected thermostats

Connected thermostats (CTs) often save less energy than predicted because consumers may not know how to use them and may not be engaged in saving energy. Additionally, several models perform contrary to consumers’ expectations and are thus not used the way they are intended to. As a result, CTs save less energy and are underused in households. This paper reviews aspects of gamification and serious games focused on engaging consumers. A gamification and serious games framework is proposed for saving energy that is tailored by a fuzzy logic system to motivate connected thermostat consumers. This intelligent gamification framework can be used to customize the gamification and serious game strategy to each consumer so that fuzzy logic systems can be adapted according to the requirements of each consumer. The framework is designed to teach, engage, and motivate consumers while helping them save electrical energy when using their thermostats. It is described the proposed framework as well as a mockup that can be run on a cellphone. Although this framework is designed to be implemented in CTs, it can be translated to their energy devices in smart homes

Science Classroom Inquiry (SCI) simulations: A novel method to scaffold science learning

Science education is progressively more focused on employing inquiry-based learning methods in the classroom and increasing scientific literacy among students. However, due to time and resource constraints, many classroom science activities and laboratory experiments focus on simple inquiry, with a step-by-step approach to reach predetermined outcomes. The science classroom inquiry (SCI) simulations were designed to give students real life, authentic science experiences within the confines of a typical classroom. The SCI simulations allow students to engage with a science problem in a meaningful, inquiry-based manner. Three discrete SCI simulations were created as website applications for use with middle school and high school students. For each simulation, students were tasked with solving a scientific problem through investigation and hypothesis testing. After completion of the simulation, 67% of students reported a change in how they perceived authentic science practices, specifically related to the complex and dynamic nature of scientific research and how scientists approach problems. Moreover, 80% of the students who did not report a change in how they viewed the practice of science indicated that the simulation confirmed or strengthened their prior understanding. Additionally, we found a statistically significant positive correlation between students' self-reported changes in understanding of authentic science practices and the degree to which each simulation benefitted learning. Since SCI simulations were effective in promoting both student learning and student understanding of authentic science practices with both middle and high school students, we propose that SCI simulations are a valuable and versatile technology that can be used to educate and inspire a wide range of science students on the real-world complexities inherent in scientific study

Padrões de sensibilidade a antimicrobianos em amostras de Bordetella bronchiseptica isoladas de suínos

The sensitivity patterns of Bordetella bronchiseptica strains isolated from swine nasal cavities (59 strains in 1977, 32 in 1978, 165 in 1979, 41 in 1980, and 24 in 1981) to fourteen antimicrobial agents were determined. Eighty to 100 percent of the isolated strains were sensible to chloramphenicol, colistin, gentamicin, kanamycin, neomycin and tetracycline. In addition, above 80 percent of these strains were resistant to ampicillin, streptomycin, lincomycin and penicillin. In both cases, the percentages of sensible or resistant strains did not change significantly among the observed years. Variable results were obtained with cephalothin and erythromycin. Thus, a trend for an annual increasing of sensitivity among the isolates was observed with these drugs. In contrast there were an annual decreasing in sensitivity among the isolates to sulfadiazine and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. This fact ocurred with the increasing utilization of these drugs in the swine atrophic rhinitis control.Com o objetivo de acompanhar os padrões de sensibilidade de Bordetella bronchiseptica, isoladas da cavidade nasal de suínos, a quatorze antimicrobianos, foram testadas 59 amostras em 1977, 32 em 1978, 165 em 1979,41 em 1980 e 24 em 1981. O percentual de amostras sensíveis manteve-se aproximadamente igual (de 80% a 100%) para cloranfenicol, colistina, gentamicina, canamicina, neomicina e tretraciclina. Igualmente inalterado manteve-se o percentual de amostras resistentes (acima de 80%) em relação a ampicilina, estreptomicina, lincomicina e penicilina. Em ambos os casos, as percentagens das amostras sensíveis ou resistentes não variaram significativamente, entre os anos em questão. Resultados variáveis foram obtidos para cefalotina e eritromicina, com tendência a aumentar o número de amostras sensíveis. Para sulfadiazina e trimetoprim-sulfametoxazol houve um aumento anual gradativo no número de amostras resistentes, coincidindo com a utilização mais intensa destas drogas nos rebanhos com rinite atrófica

Processes, contexts, and rationale for disinvestment: a protocol for a critical interpretive synthesis

Background: Practical solutions are needed to support the appropriate use of available health system resources as countries are continually pressured to ‘do more with less’ in health care. Increasingly, health systems and organizations are exploring the reassessment of possibly obsolete, inefficient, or ineffective health system resources and potentially redirecting funds to those that are more effective and efficient. Such processes are often referred to as ‘disinvestment’. Our objective is to gain further understanding about: 1) whether how and under what conditions health systems decide to pursue disinvestment; 2) how health systems have chosen to undertake disinvestment; and 3) how health systems have implemented their disinvestment approach. Methods/Design We will use a critical interpretive synthesis (CIS) approach, to develop a theoretical framework based on insights drawn from a range of relevant sources. We will conduct systematic searches of databases as well as purposive searches to identify literature to fill conceptual gaps that may emerge during our inductive process of synthesis and analysis. Two independent reviewers will assess search results for relevance and conceptually map included references. We will include all empirical and non-empirical articles that focus on disinvestment at a system level. We will then extract key findings from a purposive sample of articles using frameworks related to government agendas, policy development and implementation, and health system contextual factors and then synthesize and integrate the findings to develop a framework about our core areas of interest. Lastly, we will convene a stakeholder dialogue with Canadian and international policymakers and other stakeholders to solicit targeted feedback about the framework (e.g., by identifying any gaps in the literature that we may want to revisit before finalizing it) and deliberating about barriers for developing and implementing approaches to disinvestment, strategies to address these barriers and about next steps that could be taken by different constituencies. Discussion Disinvestment is an emerging field and there is a need for evidence to inform the prioritization, development, and implementation of strategies in different contexts. Our CIS and the framework developed through it will support the actions of those involved in the prioritization, development, and implementation of disinvestment initiatives. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42014013204 Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2046-4053-3-143) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Large scale analytics of global and regional MOOC providers: Differences in learners' demographics, preferences, and perceptions

[EN] Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) remarkably attracted global media attention, but the spotlight has been concentrated on a handful of English-language providers. While Coursera, edX, Udacity, and FutureLearn received most of the attention and scrutiny, an entirely new ecosystem of local MOOC providers was growing in parallel. This ecosystem is harder to study than the major players: they are spread around the world, have less staff devoted to maintaining research data, and operate in multiple languages with university and corporate regional partners. To better understand how online learning opportunities are expanding through this regional MOOC ecosystem, we created a research partnership among 15 different MOOC providers from nine countries. We gathered data from over eight million learners in six thousand MOOCs, and we conducted a large-scale survey with more than 10 thousand participants. From our analysis, we argue that these regional providers may be better positioned to meet the goals of expanding access to higher education in their regions than the better-known global providers. To make this claim we highlight three trends: first, regional providers attract a larger local population with more inclusive demographic profiles; second, students predominantly choose their courses based on topical interest, and regional providers do a better job at catering to those needs; and third, many students feel more at ease learning from institutions they already know and have references from. Our work raises the importance of local education in the global MOOC ecosystem, while calling for additional research and conversations across the diversity of MOOC providers.We would like to thank support from the MIT-SPAIN program sponsored by "la Caixa" Foundation SEED FUND. Jose A. Ruiperez-Valiente acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the Juan de la Cierva Incorporacion program (IJC2020-044852-I). Xitong Li acknowledges funding support from the French National Research Agency (ANR) [Grants ANR AAPG iMOOC-18-CE28-0020-01 and Investissements d'Avenir LabEx Ecodec Grant ANR-11-LABX-0047].Ruipérez-Valiente, JA.; Staubitz, T.; Jenner, M.; Halawa, S.; Zhang, J.; Despujol, I.; Maldonado-Mahauad, J.... (2022). Large scale analytics of global and regional MOOC providers: Differences in learners' demographics, preferences, and perceptions. Computers & Education. 180:1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2021.10442611718

Case studies of mental models in home heat control: Searching for feedback, valve, timer and switch theories

An intergroup case study was undertaken to determine if: 1) There exist distinct mental models of home heating function, that differ significantly from the actual functioning of UK heating systems; and 2) Mental models of thermostat function can be categorized according to Kempton’s (1986) valve and feedback shared theories, and others from the literature. Distinct, inaccurate mental models of the heating system, as well as thermostat devices in isolation, were described. It was possible to categorise thermostat models by Kempton’s (1986) feedback shared theory, but other theories proved ambiguous. Alternate control devices could be categorized by Timer (Norman, 2002) and Switch (Peffer et al., 2011) theories. The need to consider the mental models of the heating system in terms of an integrated set of control devices, and to consider user’s goals and expectations of the system benefit, was highlighted. The value of discovering shared theories, and understanding user mental models, of home heating, are discussed with reference to their present day relevance for reducing energy consumption

Undergraduate Biology Education Research Gordon Research Conference: A Meeting Report

The 2019 Undergraduate Biology Education Research Gordon Research Conference (UBER GRC), titled “Achieving Widespread Improvement in Undergraduate Education,” brought together a diverse group of researchers and practitioners working to identify, promote, and understand widespread adoption of evidence-based teaching, learning, and success strategies in undergraduate biology. Graduate students and postdocs had the additional opportunity to present and discuss research during a Gordon Research Seminar (GRS) that preceded the GRC. This report provides a broad overview of the UBER GRC and GRS and highlights major themes that cut across invited talks, poster presentations, and informal discussions. Such themes include the importance of working in teams at multiple levels to achieve instructional improvement, the potential to use big data and analytics to inform instructional change, the need to customize change initiatives, and the importance of psychosocial supports in improving undergraduate student well-being and academic success. The report also discusses the future of the UBER GRC as an established meeting and describes aspects of the conference that make it unique, both in terms of facilitating dissemination of research and providing a welcoming environment for conferees