Reflective learning in engineering education : a case study of Shell Eco- Marathon

Abstract: Globally, universities are reinventing STEM education where traditional classroom methods are substituted or supplemented with practical learning methods such as problem-based learning and project-based learning. Another method, not often employed in STEM, is learning through reflection. This paper presents a case study where a group of engineering students participated in an international competition, the Shell Eco-Marathon, and partook in reflective learning before and after the event. The results indicate that students who learn through reflection value the inclusion of project-based learning in their curricula, which emphasizes the importance of this study for the future of engineering education

Gender dynamics : a case study of role allocation in engineering education

Abstract: The underrepresentation of women in engineering remains a problem till this day where women made up 4% of its registered professional engineers in South Africa in 2014. The experience of women engineers in industry and women students in engineering courses can play a significant role in their decision to remain in engineering or pursue a different career path. The investigation of gender dynamics in small groups of engineering students, specifically focusing on the participation and role allocation of women students, can shed light on the experiences of women students in the engineering education environment. This study shows that, although women engineering students are still in the minority in engineering courses, many are active participators in groups and fulfil leadership roles in those groups

Landau-Ginzburg method applied to finite fermion systems: Pairing in Nuclei

Given the spectrum of a Hamiltonian, a methodology is developed which employs the Landau-Ginsburg method for characterizing phase transitions in infinite systems to identify phase transition remnants in finite fermion systems. As a first application of our appproach we discuss pairing in finite nuclei.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

What Is Neuropsychoanalysis?

This article serves to briefly survey the relationship between neuroscience and psychoanalysis ("neuropsychoanalysis") and, at the same time, to address some of the criticisms that the field has encountered. First, the article reviews the historical foundations of neuropsychoanalysis, including both theoretical and technical questions of whether an interdiscipline is appropriate. Second, the article reviews the philosophical foundations of the field, including the position of dual-aspect monism. Third, the article examines the scientific foundations of the field, with a discussion of whether analytic work with neurological patients represents an optimal point of contact between the disciplines. Finally, the article engages with the issue of what neuropsychoanalysis is not, covering issues such as "speculation versus empirical research,"and the question of whether neuropsychoanalysis represents a new "school" within psychoanalysis

Toward Psycho-robots

We try to perform geometrization of psychology by representing mental states, >, by points of a metric space, >. Evolution of ideas is described by dynamical systems in metric mental space. We apply the mental space approach for modeling of flows of unconscious and conscious information in the human brain. In a series of models, Models 1-4, we consider cognitive systems with increasing complexity of psychological behavior determined by structure of flows of ideas. Since our models are in fact models of the AI-type, one immediately recognizes that they can be used for creation of AI-systems, which we call psycho-robots, exhibiting important elements of human psyche. Creation of such psycho-robots may be useful improvement of domestic robots. At the moment domestic robots are merely simple working devices (e.g. vacuum cleaners or lawn mowers) . However, in future one can expect demand in systems which be able not only perform simple work tasks, but would have elements of human self-developing psyche. Such AI-psyche could play an important role both in relations between psycho-robots and their owners as well as between psycho-robots. Since the presence of a huge numbers of psycho-complexes is an essential characteristic of human psychology, it would be interesting to model them in the AI-framework

A Neuropsychoanalytical approach to the hard problem of consciousness

A neuropsychoanalytical approach to the ‘hard problem’ of consciousness revolves around the distinction between the subject and objects of consciousness. In contrast to the mainstream of cognitive science, neuropsychoanalysis prioritises the subject. The subject of consciousness is the indispensable page upon which its objects are inscribed. This has implications for our conception of the mental. The subjective being of consciousness is not registered in the classical exteroceptive modalities; it is not a cognitive representation, not a memory trace. Cognitive representations are ‘mental solids,’ embedded within subjective consciousness, and their tangible and visible (etc.) properties are projected onto reality. It is important to recognise that mental solids (e.g. the body-as-object) are no more real than the subjective being they are represented in (the body-as-subject). Moreover, pure subjectivity is not without content or quality. This aspect of consciousness is conventionally described quantitatively as the level of consciousness, ‘wakefulness’. But it feels like something to be awake. The primary modality of this aspect of consciousness is affect. Some implications of this frame of reference are discussed here, in broad brush strokes. This is an electronic version of an article published as Journal of Integrative Neuroscience, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2014, pp. 173-185. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S0219635214400032, © World Scientific Publishing Company, http://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/jin

Drafting a composite indicator of validity for regulatory models and legal systems

The aim of this paper is to lay the groundwork for the creation of a composite indicator of the validity of regulatory systems. The composite nature of the indicator implies a) that its construction is embedded in the long-standing theoretical debate and framework of legal validity; b) that it formally contains other sub-indicators whose occurrence is essential to the determination of validity. The paper suggests, in other words, that validity is a second-degree property, i.e., one that occurs only once the justice, efficiency, effectiveness, and enforceability of the system have been checked

Collaboration Towards a More Inclusive Society: The Case of South African ICT4D Researchers

In this study, research collaboration in the context of South African Information and Communication for Development (ICT4D) researchers was investigated using a mixed methods approach. South Africa, a country with stark development challenges and on the other hand a well-established ICT infrastructure, provides an appropriate context for ICT4D research. Firstly, a quantitative analysis of South African research collaboration between 2003 and 2016 was conducted to determine the existing research collaboration patterns of South African ICT4D researchers. This is based on the publications in three top ICT4D journals namely the Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries (EJISDC), Information Technologies & International Development (ITID), and Information Technology for Development (ITD). The results show that most co-authored papers were intra-institutional collaborations, with limited inter-institutional collaboration between South African authors or between South African and other African authors. Secondly, interviews were conducted with South African researchers who emerged as inter- and intra-institutional collaborators to gain insight into the technology, drivers and barriers affecting South African research collaboration. We report our findings and discuss the implications for employing research collaboration as a mechanism for addressing inequality and supporting inclusion.School of Computin