Analysis of Student Preconceptions Related to Quality of Service in Telecommunications

This study evaluates STEM students’ preconceptions regarding Quality of Service (QoS) in telecommunications and networking with the goal of understanding the nature of these preconceptions to improve student learning in this discipline. In this study we explain the importance of identifying preconceptions with which students enter our classrooms and illustrate a mechanism successfully used in this identification process. Researchers have explained it incumbent on educators to address preconceptions in order to effectively change student beliefs1 . Analyzing the causes of these will allow teachers to instruct effectively from the start of the topic rather that lose time by re-teaching the material. As networks grow to handle increasing demands for capacity and QoS, telecommunications professionals are responsible for engineering and managing these networks. A solid understanding of factors that affect QoS is imperative and, as such, telecommunications networking instruction must be properly informed

Incorporation Of Broadband Access Technology In A Telecommunications Engineering Technology Program

The so-called “last mile” of the telecommunications network, which links residences and business locations to the network, has traditionally been the last bastion of old technology. Residential voice service is still mostly provided via an analog signal over a pair of copper wires that connects the telephone to a switching system in a central office. The high-speed digital technology employed by modern switching systems and inter-office transmission systems does not extend to most residences. The local access network is a landscape of copper wires bound into large cables, splices, cross-boxes and other equipment that has provided voice-grade service over the years. However, the landscape is changing dramatically as both residential and business customers demand more and more bandwidth for a growing number of services including high-speed Internet access and video as well as voice. Telcos such as AT&T and Verizon as well as Multi-Service Operators (MSOs) are both vying to provide the “triple play” (voice, data and video) to these customers. In order to provide the triple play, service providers are introducing digital transmission and optical fiber, which have revolutionized long-haul communication, to the local access network. The Telecommunication Engineering Technology program at RIT is responding to this trend by providing courses and laboratory facilities to introduce students to the associated technology. Our Telecommunication Systems Laboratory now features both passive optical network (PON) and hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) technology. These are two leading approaches to provide broadband access to support the triple play. In addition, we are developing new courses to cover topics such as video transmission and broadband network engineering. This paper presents the current status of our laboratory and course development along with our plans for future enhancements

Problem-Based Learning: A Tale of Three Courses

Courses in engineering and science are typically taught deductively, through transmission of information from instructor to student, followed by practice problems to reinforce what was covered in readings and lectures. Yet in our personal and professional lives, we learn experientially – by facing a real situation and attempting to address it, and from our related successes and failures. Experiential education emphasizes a mixture of content and experiences, connection of learning to meaning and to the world outside of the classroom, and reflection on this for higher order learning and development of new skills and capabilities. Problem-based Learning (PBL) is an inductive, active learning approach that connects learning to real world problems, and provides a context in which students can tether their knowledge and internalize course concepts. Students are thus motivated to seek out a deeper understanding of the concepts they need to address the problems presented in a course. This research focuses on going beyond the technical lecture to enhance the student experience through PBL and experiential education techniques, based on implementation in the Rochester Institute of Technology’s (RIT) College of Engineering Technology, in courses in telecommunications engineering and environmental sustainability. PBL content was developed and implemented with a goal of motivating and exciting students, and enabling them to internalize the knowledge for deeper understanding. This included enhancing students’ ability to think critically about real-world challenges in engineering and sustainability, as well as their ability to address these challenges through an inductive, experiential approach that mirrors the way they will need to approach problem solving in professional practice. Assessments suggest initial challenges for students in self-directed research and working outside of their comfort zone, but ultimately there is evidence of tangible value for student learning, skill development, and ability to succeed and thrive in the field

Analysis of Student Preconceptions Related to Quality of Service and Basic Principles in Telecommunications

Student preconceptions play an important role in education. In the constructivist theory, the students’ cognitive process is understood as building new knowledge using existing ideas as a starting point. Students’ preconceptions and intuitions are often false, naïve or incomplete. When aware of this fact, instructors can find these misconceptions early in a course, and devise an educational methodology to address them19,2. We aim to identify student preconceptions related to networking and telecommunications engineering technology with the objective of increasing the effectiveness of our teaching methodologies. We hypothesize that to effectively address misconceptions, student culture must be taken into account. Finally, by analyzing student responses to misconception testing, we have taken the first steps in developing a concept inventory for telecommunications and networking. This work augments a previous study on STEM undergraduate students’ preconceptions regarding Quality of Service (QoS) in telecommunications13, by giving the same survey to a larger number of students across different programs and countries and investigating the effects of culture and experience on preconceptions related specifically to QoS. In this study, the survey was given to two new groups of students and the pre- and post-instruction responses were the analyzed. The first group was primarily from India and were studying towards a graduate degree in telecommunications; the second group was primarily from the USA and were taking a networking class as part of their undergraduate degree. The students were asked to respond either “yes” or “no” to multiple questions and then explain the reasoning behind their response. The data from each group was analyzed, the undergraduate data was then compared with data from the previous study, and the undergraduate and graduate data were compared to each other with respect to culture and experience 20. In addition, a new survey was given to another set of graduate students to study preconceptions related to concepts in telecommunications that were not related to QoS. We used our overall results and analyzed the wording, key phrases and key words in their explanations, to create an initial concept inventory specific to telecommunications. This concept inventory will allow instructors to prepare their instructional material and tune their didactic approaches to meet specific student need - some of which may be related to culture and experience

Radiotherapy for Soft Tissue Sarcoma of the Proximal Lower Extremity

Soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) is a histopathologically diverse group of tumors accounting for approximately 10,000 new malignancies in the US each year. The proximal lower extremity is the most common site for STS, accounting for approximately one-third of all cases. Coordinated multimodality management in the form of surgery and radiation is often critical to local control, limb preservation, and functional outcome. Based on a review of currently available Medline literature and professional experience, this paper provides an overview of the treatment of STS of the lower extremity with a particular focus on the modern role of radiotherapy

Providing First Responders with Real-Time Status of Cellular Networks During a Disaster

Existing systems for reporting cellular outages do not provide adequate geographical granularity and do not provide a real-time view of the state of the communication network. This work presents a system for real-time measurement of both coverage and quality of service via crowdsourced measurements from consumer and first responder phones. Baseline coverage and quality of service data is collected prior to a major disaster. During a major disaster, real-time data is compared to baseline to identify areas of congestion or outages. Such information can be used by incident commanders to more effectively deploy resources during major disasters. Furthermore, such system state information can be used to support automatic deployment of temporary cellular network base stations, such as on drones

Isometry of medial collateral ligament reconstruction

The purpose of this study was to determine the femoral and tibial fixation sites that would result in the most isometric MCL reconstruction technique. Seven cadaveric knees were used in this study. A navigation system was utilized to determine graft isometry continuously from 0º to 90º. Five points on the medial side of the femur and four on the tibia were tested. A graft positioned in the center of the MCL femoral attachment (FC) and attached in the center of the superficial MCL attachment on the tibia led to the best isometry (2.7 ± 1.1 mm). Movement of the origin superiorly only 4 mm (FS) led to graft excursion of greater than 10 mm (P < 0.01). MCL reconstruction performed with the origin of the MCL within the femoral footprint and the insertion in tibial footprint of the superficial MCL results in the least graft excursion when the knee is cycled between 0º and 90º. Although the MCL often heals without surgical intervention, surgical reconstruction is occasionally in Grade III MCL and combined ligamentous injuries to the knee. This study demonstrates the optimal position of the MCL reconstruction to reproduce the kinematics of the native knee

Reliability of the tuck jump injury risk screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players

Altered neuromuscular control has been suggested as a mechanism for injury in soccer players. Ligamentous injuries most often occur during dynamic movements, such as decelerations from jump-landing maneuvers where high risk movement patterns are present. The assessment of kinematic variables during jump-landing tasks as part of a pre-participation screen is useful in the identification of injury risk. An example of a field-based screening tool is the repeated tuck jump assessment. The purpose of this study was to analyze the within-subject variation of the tuck jump screening assessment in elite male youth soccer players. 25 pre and 25 post-peak height velocity (PHV) elite male youth soccer players from the academy of a professional English soccer club completed the assessment. A test, re-test design was used to explore the within-subject inter-session reliability. Technique was graded retrospectively against the 10-point criteria set out in the screening protocol using two-dimensional video cameras. The typical error range reported for tuck jump total score (0.90 – 1.01 in pre and post-PHV players respectively) was considered acceptable. When each criteria was analyzed individually, Kappa coefficient determined that knee valgus was the only criterion to reach substantial agreement across the two test sessions for both groups. The results of this study suggest that although tuck jump total score may be reliably assessed in elite male youth soccer players, caution should be applied in solely interpreting the composite score due to the high within-subject variation in a number of the individual criteria. Knee valgus may be reliably used to screen elite youth male soccer players for this plyometric technique error and for test, re-test comparison

Response to sunitinib in combination with proton beam radiation in a patient with chondrosarcoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Chondrosarcoma is well-known to be primarily resistant to conventional radiation and chemotherapy.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 32-year-old Caucasian man with clear cell chondrosarcoma who presented with symptomatic recurrence in his pelvis and metastases to his skull and lungs. Our patient underwent systemic therapy with sunitinib and then consolidation with proton beam radiation to his symptomatic site. He achieved complete symptomatic relief with a significantly improved performance status and had an almost complete and durable metabolic response on fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings have important clinical implications and suggest novel clinical trials for this difficult to treat disease.</p