412 research outputs found
Students and instant messaging: a survey of current use and demands for higher education
Instant messaging (IM) is the term used to describe the technology through which ‘users can set up a list of partners who will be able to receive notes that pop up on their screens the moment one of them writes and hits the send button’. While early use could be described as mainly for fun, IM today is a serious communication medium. Remarkably, it seems that educational institutions have been doing very little with it, while several studies indicate that it could indeed be a valuable tool in education. As a first step towards a better understanding of the educational use of IM, we want to gain insights in how students currently use IM and what opportunities they themselves see for the medium. To that end we conducted a survey among students of the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in The Netherlands. A large majority of the participating students indicated using IM for their studies. Also, when asked about their demands for a possible educational implementation, the majority were positive
Introducing the SAPS System and a Corresponding Allocation Mechanism for Synchronous Online Reciprocal Peer Support Activities
While student populations in higher education are becoming more heterogeneous, recently several attempts have been made to introduce online peer support to decrease the tutor load of teachers. We propose a system that facilitates synchronous online reciprocal peer support activities for ad hoc student questions: the Synchronous Allocated Peer Support (SAPS) system. Via this system, students with questions during their learning are allocated to competent fellow-students for answering. The system is designed for reciprocal peer support activities among a group of students who are working on the same fixed modular material every student has to finish, such as courses with separate chapters. As part of a requirement analysis of online reciprocal peer support to succeed, this chapter is focused on the second requirement of peer competence and sustainability of our system. Therefore a study was conducted with a simulation of a SAPS-based allocation mechanism in the NetLogo simulation environment and focuses on the required minimum population size, the effect of the addition of extra allocation parameters or disabling others on the mechanism\'s effectiveness, and peer tutor load spread in various conditions and its influence on the mechanism\'s effectiveness. The simulation shows that our allocation mechanism should be able to facilitate online peer support activities among groups of students. The allocation mechanism holds over time and a sufficient number of students are willing and competent to answer fellow-students\' questions. Also, fine-tuning the parameters (e.g. extra selection criteria) of the allocation mechanism further enhances its effectiveness.Peer Support, Peer Allocation, Computational Simulations, System Dynamics, Distance Learning
Self-Arrangement of Fleeting Student Pairs:a Web 2.0 Approach for Peer Tutoring
Westera, W., De Bakker, G., & Wagemans, L. (2009). Self-Arrangement of Fleeting Student Pairs: a Web 2.0 Approach for Peer Tutoring. Interactive Learning Environments, 17(4), 339-347.This paper presents a Web 2.0 approach for the arrangement of peer tutoring in online learning. In online learning environments, the learners’ expectations of obtaining frequent, one-to-one support from their teachers tend to increase the teachers’ workloads to unacceptably high levels. To address this problem of workload a self-organised peer allocation mechanism is proposed for the easy arrangement of instant tutoring by fellow students. The approach is based on a computational model which selects the most appropriate peer from a population of learners. A software prototype has been developed and tested with learners in two different educational settings. The evaluation shows that the use of a self-organising, synchronous peer-allocation system is not self-evident. It may be successful, but context variables have great impact on its functioning. Although the system technically functioned appropriately, students often appeared to use alternative ways for asking for help. In view of its potential for the efficient arrangement of distributed online support recommendations are given for successful appliance of the approach.Surf Foundatio
Applications of Laser Microprobe Mass Spectrometry in Biology and Medicine
Laser microprobe mass spectrometry (LMMS) provides spot analysis with a lateral resolution of 1-5 μm. Focused laser ionisation, combined with mass spectrometry, yields information on elements, molecular identification of inorganic substances, and structural characterisation of organic molecules of typically less than 2-3 kDa. Quantification in complex heterogeneous systems, such as biological materials, is not possible at the present state of the art. The strength of the method lies in the qualitative information on the molecular composition of the analyte, not just element detection, with a lateral resolution at the light microscopy level. The applications of this technique in the field of biomedicine and biology are illustrated by examples that demonstrate the use of this qualitative information in practical test cases
Introducing the SAPS system and a corresponding allocation mechanism for synchronous online reciprocal peer support activities
De Bakker, G., Van Bruggen, J., Sloep, P. B., Jochems, W. (2011). Introducing the SAPS system and a corresponding allocation mechanism for synchronous online reciprocal peer support activities. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, 14(1). Electronic Publication: http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/14/1/1.htmlWhile student populations in higher education are becoming more heterogeneous, recently several attempts have been made to introduce online peer support to decrease the tutor load of teachers. We propose a system that facilitates synchronous online reciprocal peer support activities for ad hoc student questions: the Synchronous Allocated Peer Support (SAPS) system. Via this system, students with questions during their learning are allocated to competent fellow-students for answering. The system is designed for reciprocal peer support activities among a group of students who are working on the same fixed modular material every student has to finish, such as courses with separate chapters. As part of a requirement analysis of online reciprocal peer support to succeed, this chapter is focused on the second requirement of peer competence and sustainability of our system. Therefore a study was conducted with a simulation of a SAPS-based allocation mechanism in the NetLogo simulation environment and focuses on the required minimum population size, the effect of the addition of extra allocation parameters or disabling others on the mechanism's effectiveness, and peer tutor load spread in various conditions and its influence on the mechanism's effectiveness. The simulation shows that our allocation mechanism should be able to facilitate online peer support activities among groups of students. The allocation mechanism holds over time and a sufficient number of students are willing and competent to answer fellow-students' questions. Also, fine-tuning the parameters (e.g. extra selection criteria) of the allocation mechanism further enhances its effectiveness
Involvement of T cells in enhanced resistance to Klebsiella pneumoniae septicemia in mice treated with liposome-encapsulated muramyl tripeptide phosphatidylethanolamine or gamma interferon
We have previously shown that prophylactic administration of the
liposome-encapsulated immunomodulating agents muramyl tripeptide
phosphatidylethanolamine (MTPPE) and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) results
in strongly increased survival of mice from a normally lethal septicemia
with Klebsiella pneumoniae. It was anticipated that the treatment acts on
macrophages and nonspecifically augments host resistance to various
infections. In the present study, we provide evidence for a key role for T
cells in host defense potentiation by the liposomal immunomodulators
toward K. pneumoniae septicemia. It is shown that both CD4 and CD8 cells
are important in immunomodulation, most likely due to production of
IFN-gamma. Depletion of circulating IFN-gamma resulted in strong reduction
of the antimicrobial host defense activation. Administration of
interleukin-10 resulted in decreased antimicrobial host defense activation
by liposomal immunomodulators. Moreover, administration of liposomal
immunomodulators was shown to induce predominantly T-helper type 1 (Th1)
cell populations in the spleen. These findings indicate that
immunomodulation with liposomal MTPPE and IFN-gamma favors Th1 and NK cell
activation
Apertif - the focal-plane array system for the WSRT
We describe a focal plane array (FPA) system, called Apertif, that is being
developed for the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT). The aim of
Apertif is to increase the instantaneous field of view of the WSRT by a factor
of 37 and its observing bandwidth to 300 MHz with high spectral resolution.
This system will turn the WSRT into an effective survey telescope with
scientific applications such as deep imaging surveys of the northern sky of HI
and OH emission, of the polarised continuum and efficient searches for pulsars
and transients. Such surveys will detect the HI in more than 100,000 galaxies
out to z = 0.4, will allow to determine the detailed structure of the magnetic
field of the Galaxy, and will discover more than 1,000 pulsars. We present
experimental results obtained with a prototype FPA installed in one of the WSRT
dishes. These results demonstrate that FPAs do have the performance that is
required to make all these surveys possible.Comment: Presented at Widefield Science and Technology for the SKA, SKADS
Conference 2009, Chateau de Limelette, Belgium, 4-6 novemer 2009; 7 page
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