Accommodating the difference in students’ prior knowledge of cell growth kinetics

This paper describes the development and benefits of an adaptive digital module on cell growth to tackle the problem of educating a heterogeneous group of students at the beginning of an undergraduate course on process engineering. Aim of the digital module is to provide students with the minimal level of knowledge on cell growth kinetics they need to comprehend the content knowledge of the subsequent lectures and pass the exam. The module was organised to offer the subject matter in a differentiated manner, so that students could follow different learning paths. Two student groups were investigated, one consisting of students who had received their prior education abroad and one of students that had not. Exam scores, questionnaires, and logged user data of the two student groups were analysed to discover whether the digital module had the intended effect. The results indicate that students did indeed follow different learning paths. Also, the differences in exam scores between the two student groups that was present before the introduction of the digital module was found to have decreased afterwards. In general, students appreciated the use of the material regardless of their prior education. We therefore conclude that the use of adaptive digital learning material is a possible way to solve the problem of differences in prior education of students entering a course

The influence of student characteristics on the use of adaptive e-learning material

Adaptive e-learning materials can help teachers to educate heterogeneous student groups. This study provides empirical data about the way academic students differ in their learning when using adaptive elearning materials. Ninety-four students participated in the study. We determined characteristics in a heterogeneous student group by collecting demographic data and measuring motivation and prior knowledge. We also measured the learning paths students followed and learning strategies they used when working with adaptive e-learning material in a molecular biology course. We then combined these data to study if and how student characteristics relate to the learning paths and strategies they used. We observed that students did follow different learning paths. Gender did not have an effect, but (mainly Dutch) BSc students differed from (international) MSc students in the intrinsic motivation they had and the learning paths and strategies they followed when using the adaptive e-learning materia

Development and Evaluation of an Adaptive Digital Module on Enzyme Kinetics

An adaptive module on basic enzyme kinetics was developed for first- and second-year university students. The module offers more assignments to students who have less knowledge of the theory than to more advanced students. The aim of the research was to investigate what influence students’ backgrounds have on their use and appreciation of this module. Both freshmen and second-year students showed a large variation in the number of assignments they needed to perform in order to finish the module, indicating that the module’s adaptive feature was exploited by all the students. Findings indicated that the prior knowledge was of influence of students’ motivation and perception of difficulty of the modul

Geotechnical safety in relation to water pressures

Codes and Standard

La boîte à outils géotechniques de demain: EN 1997-1: 202x Règles générales

This paper describes the development of the final Project Team (PT) draft of the next generation of Eurocode 7 Part 1 (EN 1997-1:202x). The use of Nationally Determined Parameters and the drive for ease-of-use is highlighted. Key changes from the previous version of EN 1997-1 are explained, including the introduction of the Geotechnical Design Model; revision of the Geotechnical Categories and their application; the implementation of Consequence Classes and Geotechnical Complexity Classes in achieving the reliability required by the Eurocodes; elaboration on the use of numerical methods within Eurocode 7; the treatment of rock on an equal basis with soil; and greater emphasis on the Observational Method.Postprint (published version

Deep Brain Stimulation Reveals a Dissociation of Consummatory and Motivated Behaviour in the Medial and Lateral Nucleus Accumbens Shell of the Rat

Following the successful application of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and promising results in clinical trials for obsessive compulsive disorder and major depression, DBS is currently being tested in small patient-populations with eating disorders and addiction. However, in spite of its potential use in a broad spectrum of disorders, the mechanisms of action of DBS remain largely unclear and optimal neural targets for stimulation in several disorders have yet to be established. Thus, there is a great need to examine site-specific effects of DBS on a behavioural level and to understand how DBS may modulate pathological behaviour. In view of the possible application of DBS in the treatment of disorders characterized by impaired processing of reward and motivation, like addiction and eating disorders, we examined the effect of DBS of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) on food-directed behavior. Rats were implanted with bilateral stimulation electrodes in one of three anatomically and functionally distinct sub-areas of the NAcc: the core, lateral shell (lShell) and medial shell (mShell). Subsequently, we studied the effects of DBS on food consumption, and the motivational and appetitive properties of food. The data revealed a functional dissociation between the lShell and mShell. DBS of the lShell reduced motivation to respond for sucrose under a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement, mShell DBS, however, profoundly and selectively increased the intake of chow. DBS of the NAcc core did not alter any form of food-directed behavior studied. DBS of neither structure affected sucrose preference. These data indicate that the intake of chow and the motivation to work for palatable food can independently be modulated by DBS of subregions of the NAcc shell. As such, these findings provide important leads for the possible future application of DBS as a treatment for eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa