Development of Learning Modules for Sustainable Life Cycle Product Design: A Constructionist Approach

Constructionism is an approach to learning in which learners construct their own understanding and knowledge through making a meaningful product. A cyberlearning environment for sustainable life cycle engineering design has been developed based upon this approach through a multi-university research project funded by the NSF entitled “Constructionism in Learning: Sustainable Life Cycle Engineering (CooL:SLiCE).” The pedagogic significance of CooL:SLiCE is to better enable university students to learn about sustainable product life cycle engineering design by realizing effective learning modules for personalized environmentally-responsible product design. The CooL:SliCE platform has developed a web-based portal with three learning modules: 1) Sustainable product architecture and supplier selection (S-PASS), 2) Visualization and CAD design, and 3) Manufacturing analysis. To test these modules, students from three different universities with different engineering backgrounds were asked to design sustainable multi-copters through the developed web-based portal. A case study of this intercollegiate collaborative pilot project is developed from multiple data sources to describe the effectiveness of constructionism to engage students in learning sustainable life-cycle engineering

Development of Learning Modules for Sustainable Life Cycle Product Design: A Constructionist Approach

Constructionism is an approach to learning in which learners construct their own understanding and knowledge through making a meaningful product. A cyberlearning environment for sustainable life cycle engineering design has been developed based upon this approach through a multi-university research project funded by the NSF entitled “Constructionism in Learning: Sustainable Life Cycle Engineering (CooL:SLiCE).” The pedagogic significance of CooL:SLiCE is to better enable university students to learn about sustainable product life cycle engineering design by realizing effective learning modules for personalized environmentally-responsible product design. The CooL:SliCE platform has developed a web-based portal with three learning modules: 1) Sustainable product architecture and supplier selection (S-PASS), 2) Visualization and CAD design, and 3) Manufacturing analysis. To test these modules, students from three different universities with different engineering backgrounds were asked to design sustainable multi-copters through the developed web-based portal. A case study of this intercollegiate collaborative pilot project is developed from multiple data sources to describe the effectiveness of constructionism to engage students in learning sustainable life-cycle engineering.This conference proceeding is published as Khan, Md Tarique Hasan, Kamyar Raoufi, Kijung Park, Tasnia Reza, Carolyn E. Psenka, Kathy Schmidt Jackson, Karl R. Haapala, Gül E. Okudan Kremer, and Kyoung-Yun Kim. "Development of learning modules for sustainable life cycle product design: a constructionist approach." In 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 2017. Posted with permission.</p

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially

Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis

Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US $92 492 million using approach 1 and$73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was $95 004 million using approach 1 and$75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially