Trying times

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156230/2/jee20346.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156230/1/jee20346_am.pd

Using Student Ambassadors to Relay Themes from Changing the Conversation in Engineering First Year Seminars

This paper describes the efforts at a large mid-Atlantic university to integrate themes from Changing the Conversation into First Year Seminars. Changing the Conversation, a 2008 book by the National Academy of Engineering, found that both male and female students were more attracted to messages describing engineering in terms relating to societal impact, such as the phrases, Engineering makes a world of difference and Engineering is essential to our health, happiness, and safety. Although the research was conducted with younger students, the potential for using these themes in the undergraduate curricula could have the potential to impact persistence in engineering, especially for female students or those from other underrepresented groups. The purpose of the initiative described in the paper, which uses engineering students from a group called the Engineering Ambassadors to relay these messages in freshmen level courses, is to impact student perceptions of engineering and to provide information to students that will be critical in making career decisions. In the Fall of 2011, a pilot program was launched in two sections of a Chemical Engineering First Year Seminar. Engineering Ambassadors made four separate visits to each section, focusing on the following topics: 1) An overview of College of Engineering Majors, 2) Options within Chemical Engineering, 3) Student experiences in the College of Engineering, and 4) How to be a successful engineering student. Woven through each presentation were themes from Changing the Conversation, focusing on how engineers are essential to health, happiness and safety. The students were mentored by a faculty member whose background is in Communication. The quality of student presentations was high, utilizing the assertion-evidence method of slide design. Data was collected to determine whether the following project objectives were met: 1) Students in the First Year Seminars will have a greater understanding of the possible careers in engineering as well as the engineering majors; and 2) Students will be more likely to define engineering in terms associated with health, happiness, and safety. The data showed that the students had a very positive reaction to the Engineering Ambassador visits, although a larger sample size would be necessary to more clearly understand the impact

Integrating simulation games into construction curricula: the VCS3 case study

In recent years, in response to higher construction industry standards for project design and delivery under budget, time and safety constraints, technological advances have dramatically changed how design and construction information is represented and managed. To prepare students to respond to these new industry demands, approaches to teaching dynamic construction planning and management practices are changing. As a result, simulation games are gaining interest as an approach to providing students with learning experiences better aligned with complex problems in the areas of construction bidding, planning and management. However, while the use of simulation games in teaching construction shows some promising results, it remains sporadic due to high development costs, implementation challenges, and uncertainty of their effectiveness as learning tools. To address this gap, we developed and evaluated a free and open-source construction management game – the Virtual Construction Simulator (VCS) – that involves teaching a more holistic decision making process to planning and managing construction projects. This paper discusses the learning objectives that guided VCS3 development, implementation and assessment, and concludes with findings and recommendations for its broader implementation and future research

Enhancement of learning objectives in construction engineering education: a step toward simulation assessment

The growing use of digital technology in design and construction has brought a change in teaching dynamics. For example, serious games have shown great potential in enhancing the learning of dynamic construction concepts traditionally acquired through practical experience. One such example is the Virtual Construction Simulator 3 (VCS3) game, developed and implemented to engage students in an active learning environment by simulating the planning and managing of a construction project. Initial assessment of the VCS3 game has demonstrated benefits for both students' motivation and basic understanding of construction concepts. However, further assessment is required to demonstrate the benefits on higher order cognitive skills. This paper introduces the first step, the formulation of learning objectives for higher order cognitive skills in construction simulation gaming. Learning objectives from third- and fourth-year construction engineering courses, together with the previous VCS3 learning objectives, are analyzed and categorized. The learning objectives guiding the next phase of the VCS4 simulation game development are then presented from lower to higher level thinking skills. This initial step opens the next phase in the development and assessment of the VCS4

The burden of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the United States

Abstract Background There is limited data on the comparative economic and humanistic burden of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in the United States. The objective was to examine the burden of disease comparing NASH to a representative sample of the general population and separately to a type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) cohort by assessing health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures, healthcare resource use (HRU) and work productivity and activity impairment (WPAI). Methods Data came from the 2016 National Health and Wellness Survey, a nationally representative patient-reported outcomes survey conducted in the United States. Respondents with physician-diagnosed NASH, physician-diagnosed T2DM, and respondents from the general population were compared. Humanistic burden was examined with mental (MCS) and physical (PCS) component summary scores from the Short-Form (SF)-36v2, concomitant diagnosis of anxiety, depression, and sleep difficulties. Economic burden was analysed based on healthcare professional (HCP) and emergency room (ER) visits, hospitalizations in the past six months; absenteeism, presenteeism, overall work impairment, and activity impairment scores on WPAI questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariable analysis were conducted for each outcome and matched comparative group. Results After adjusting for baseline demographics and characteristics, NASH (N = 136) compared to the matched general population cohort (N = 544), reported significantly lower (worse) mental (MCS 43.19 vs. 46.22, p = 0.010) and physical (PCS 42.04 vs. 47.10, p < 0.001) status, higher % with anxiety (37.5% vs 25.5%, p = 0.006) and depression (43.4% vs 30.1%, p = 0.004), more HCP visits (8.43 vs. 5.17), ER visits (0.73 vs. 0.38), and hospitalizations (0.43 vs. 0.2) all p’s < 0.05, and higher WPAI scores (e.g. overall work impairment 39.64% vs. 26.19%, p = 0.011). NASH cohort did not differ from matched T2DM cohort (N = 272) on mental or work-related WPAI scores, but had significantly worse physical status (PCS 40.52 vs. 44.58, p = 0.001), higher % with anxiety (39.9% vs 27.8%, p = 0.043), more HCP visits (8.63 vs. 5.68, p = 0.003) and greater activity impairment (47.14% vs. 36.07%, p = 0.010). Conclusion This real-world study suggests that burden of disease is higher for all outcomes assessed among NASH compared to matched general controls. When comparing to T2DM, NASH cohort has comparable mental and work-related impairment but worse physical status, daily activities impairment and more HRU

Feeding the city: food cycles and the production of urban space

Städte bilden Schnittpunkte in translokalen Güterflüssen und Versorgungssystemen. Insbesondere die Versorgung der Stadtbevölkerung mit Lebensmitteln ist – wie die Wasser- oder Energieversorgung – eine Grundvoraussetzung für das Funktionieren städtischer Lebensweisen. Sie prägt die Beziehungen von Städten zu ihrem Hinterland. In der Geschichte bildete die ständige Expansion der Landwirtschaft und der Mittel des Warentransports eine wesentliche Bedingung für städtisches Wachstum, und heute hat die Lebensmittelversorgung längst eine planetarische Dimension angenommen. Ihre Formen und Abläufe, wie auch die Rituale des Essens, haben sich seit Jahrhunderten in die Architektur der Städte eingeschrieben. Dennoch bleiben die Strukturen der Lebensmittelversorgung meist unter dem Radar der Stadtforschung und -planung. Im Seminar „Feeding the City“ haben wir uns mit den Lieferketten konventioneller Lebensmittel befasst, wie wir sie im Supermarkt oder Discounter in großer Zahl und zu niedrigen Preisen kaufen können: abgepacktes Fabrikbrot, H-Milch, Hähnchenbrust, Bananen oder Fruchtgummis. Wo kommen sie her, welchen Weg nehmen sie und wie formen sie die Räume, durch die sie zirkulieren? Welche Akteur*innen und Regularien bestimmen diese Vorgänge und Zusammenhänge? Studierende der Stadtplanung und Architektur der BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg haben zehn alltägliche Lebensmittel verfolgt: Vom Ort ihres Anbaus oder der Tierhaltung über die Stationen der Lebensmittelindustrie und Distribution bis hin zum Einzelhandel, dem privaten Kühlschrank oder Esstisch und zur Entsorgung der Überbleibsel. Anhand von Kartierungen und Netzwerkdiagrammen haben sie die räumliche Reichweite und die Komplexität der Lieferketten betrachtet, sie haben die gebauten Räume einzelner Stationen und ihre städtischen Kontexte analysiert und schließlich nach der aktuellen oder historischen Präsenz des jeweiligen Produkts in der Stadt Cottbus gefragt.Cities form intersections in translocal flows of goods and supply systems. Food supply shapes the relationships between cities and their hinterlands and is a basic prerequisite for the functioning of urban lifestyles. Throughout history, urban growth has been accompanied by the constant expansion of agriculture and transportation networks. By now, these expansive dynamics of food supply systems have reached planetary dimensions. Food supply and processing, as well as eating rituals have been inscribed in the architecture of cities for centuries. Yet, these complex supply systems have largely remained under the radar of urban planning and urban research. In the seminar "Feeding the City", we explored the supply chains of conventional food items, which are commonly found in large numbers and at low prices in supermarkets, such as packaged and sliced bread, UHT milk, chicken breast, bananas or fruit gums. We followed ten products and looked at the places where they are produced and processed, the routes they take, and how they shape the spaces through which they circulate. We also zoomed in on the actors, regulations and power relations that determine these processes and contexts. Students of urban planning and architecture at the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg have set out on a (mostly virtual) journey to trace everyday foodstuffs from the places where they are grown or raised, to the supermarkets in Cottbus, Germany. Using various mapping methods and network diagrams, they have developed a set of maps that illustrate the wide reach of supply chains around the world, complex actor-networks within food systems, the architectures of particular stations as well as their urban context, and the current or historical presence of the respective products in the city of Cottbus