Time scheduling in a peer-to-peer remote access laboratory for STEM education

Remote Access Laboratories (RAL) are online environments that allow users to access instruments through the Internet. Such environments enable users to control equipment and collect data without being present in the laboratory. This also means that users work in a disjoint manner and cannot co-ordinate equipment usage directly with each other, as they would do in regular on-site laboratories. Remote laboratory management systems deal with scheduling users, as most instruments cannot process multiple users' requests at the same time. Two scheduling strategies are predominantly used in RALs: time slotting and the queuing. This is straightforward in centralised, service-oriented environments, in particular, when instruments are available continuously throughout the day. In this paper, time scheduling in the context of a Distributed Peer-to-peer Remote laboratory featuring quest-based learning, is discussed. Here interaction with the entire system is organised around a set of learning activities or quests. This includes the experiments designed by users and the sharing of experiments by users. The providers of the experiments have the flexibility to put their systems online as per their capabilities. As such, the experiments availability become scarcer and must be judiciously assigned to the users who need them most

Introducing RALfie – remote access laboratories for fun, innovation and education

Remote Access laboratories are online platform for performing experiments from remote locations. Usually these systems follow a centralised client-server paradigm. This demo will present RALfie - Remote Access Laboratories for Fun, Innovation and Education that is a peer-to-peer remote access laboratory architecture where participants are both users of experiments as well as makers. The system is built upon a VPN service that allows direct access between learner and makers’ experiential rigs. A graphical programming language SNAP is the basis of programming and interfacing with the experimental rig. Apart from experiment and interfaces, quest-based learning strategy is used that presents the experiments as a set of hierarchical groups of activities or quests. This distributed design of RAL allows more hands-on experience to build any experimental setup and provides opt unities to collaborate with fellow students

Public Performance Metrics: Driving Physician Motivation and Performance

Introduction: As providers transition from “fee-for-service” to “pay-for-performance” models, focus has shifted to improving performance. This trend extends to the emergency department (ED) where visits continue to increase across the United States. Our objective was to determine whether displaying public performance metrics of physician triage data could drive intangible motivators and improve triage performance in the ED.Methods: This is a single institution, time-series performance study on a physician-in-triage system. Individual physician baseline metrics—number of patients triaged and dispositioned per shift—were obtained and prominently displayed with identifiable labels during each quarterly physician group meeting. Physicians were informed that metrics would be collected and displayed quarterly and that there would be no bonuses, punishments, or required training; physicians were essentially free to do as they wished. It was made explicit that the goal was to increase the number triaged, and while the number dispositioned would also be displayed, it would not be a focus, thereby acting as this study’s control. At the end of one year, we analyzed metrics.Results: The group’s average number of patients triaged per shift were as follows: Q1-29.2; Q2-31.9; Q3-34.4; Q4-36.5 (Q1 vs Q4, p < 0.00001). The average numbers of patients dispositioned per shift were Q1-16.4; Q2-17.8; Q3-16.9; Q4-15.3 (Q1 vs Q4, p = 0.14). The top 25% of Q1 performers increased their average numbers triaged from Q1-36.5 to Q4-40.3 (ie, a statistically insignificant increase of 3.8 patients per shift [p = 0.07]). The bottom 25% of Q1 performers, on the other hand, increased their averages from Q1-22.4 to Q4-34.5 (ie, a statistically significant increase of 12.2 patients per shift [p = 0.0013]).Conclusion: Public performance metrics can drive intangible motivators (eg, purpose, mastery, and peer pressure), which can be an effective, low-cost strategy to improve individual performance, achieve institutional goals, and thrive in the pay-for-performance era

Augmented and mixed reality features and tools for remote laboratory experiment

Augmented Reality (AR) is the process of overlaying meaningful interactive information in a live video stream for creating an enriched visual experience for users. Within Remote Access Laboratories (RAL) this enables users to gain design experience along with gaining knowledge about the particular experiment in question and potentially collaborate on design experiences. This paper focuses on the issues related to the applications of AR in RAL, the levels of AR in context of RAL and their effect on the learning tools. This paper also discusses the challenges of integrating a Natural User interface into the AR for RAL experiments. Finally it presets two example applications for AR in RAL experiment - Virtual Objects Creation and Object Identification and Tagging

Features, trends and characteristics of remote access laboratory management systems

Remote Access Laboratories are being used around the globe to enable engineering students to practice practical skills and enhance their knowledge through hands-on experimentation. These facilities also increase access by allowing users to undertake experiments anywhere anytime thus offering more flexibility and mobility. Several RAL systems have successfully met these goals. However, the role of experiment designers has rarely being explored or expanded since the conception of RAL systems. Experiments are designed and put on internet by a small group of experts in their respective fields. While these systems have been successful for universities where experts and suitable environment are available, they have rarely been used in the schools; and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. As the pedagogical design is now seen as a critical development in the instigation of new experiments, any RAL for STEM education initiative must address pedagogical considerations from the onset. In this paper, the common attributes of the leading RAL systems are discussed and the basic denominators are identified to establish common feature that are widely implemented in RAL systems. Limitations for their use in STEM education are analysed. The paper concludes that RAL architectures need to incorporate new aspects such as the peer-to-peer access paradigm in order to become viable STEM-based education tools

Joining the game and the experiment in peer-to-peer remote laboratories for STEM education

Remote Access Laboratories (RAL) provide access to experimental setups from remote locations. These experimental setups are composed of controller units programmed to gather data and interact with user inputs. A distributed version of RAL can be maker oriented i.e. the experiment rigs are designed by individuals and shared among each other. This paper presents the programming aspects and activity user interface (UI) design and organization of experiments in a distributed RAL aims at STEM education. The user interface must be interactive to increase engagement and motivation for the user. Being designed for school students, the environment to create the control logic of a rig created by the student needs to be on a homogenous platform. The programming language has to be easy to understand and use. Characteristics and requirements of a graphical programming language SNAP, which is modified and used as the programming platform for RAL, is studied in this paper

Using gamification to create opportunities for engagement, collaboration and communication in a peer-to-peer environment for making and using remote access labs

The RALfie Project began in 2013 with the goal of engaging children and youth with Science, Technology, Engineering and Math learning in formal and informal settings using Remote Access Labs (RAL). A design based research approach is being used to develop and test a peer-to-peer system that incorporates gamification of the system to engage learners in collaboration and communication. The key game mechanics used are: Narrative with a group of characters who play key roles in the community; a maker approach where the participants build the RAL as opposed to expert-built rigs; communities of practice based on video game style `guilds'; tasks and activities designed as quests with opportunities for collaboration; and a reputation and achievement system to track mastery that uses points, levels and badges. An iterative approach is being used to test and refine the gamification elements and technical system that form the environment. This paper provides a summary of the theoretical educational foundations of this project; discusses design-based research as the methodology in the context of the RALfie project; and presents initial results. It includes design decisions and feedback from expert review

Merging remote laboratories and enquiry-based learning for STEM education

Practical learning activities are effective ways to increase the interest of students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) topics. Attracting school students to STEM careers is a challenge in many parts of the world. Remote Access Laboratories (RAL) allow for offsite control of state-of-the-art science and technology experiments. Such learning activities, while mostly used in universities, can also provide additional learning opportunities in schools. Current RAL technologies are targeted at undergraduate engineering education and offer limited operational autonomy. Opportunities for collaboration and experiment design are not well supported. However, both are important components of STEM education in schools. This paper discusses how RAL can be adapted to better support enquiry based learning in the context of STEM education. The limitations of current architectures are discussed and approaches to address these are presented

Tumour characteristics and survival in familial breast cancer prospectively diagnosed by annual mammography

Women from breast cancer families without a demonstrable BRCA1/2 mutation were subjected to annual mammography from age 30 years onwards. One-hundred and ninety-eight patients were diagnosed prospectively with invasive breast cancer and followed for a total of 1513 years. Overall 10-year survival was 88 %. Together with our previous report that women in such kindreds had about twice the population risk of breast cancer, the combined conclusion was that the overall chances of developing breast cancer causing death within 10 years before 50 years of age was 1 % or less when subjected to annual mammography and current treatment. These are empirical prospective observations which may be used for genetic counselling. The majority (160/194 = 84 %) of patients had ER+ and/or low grade tumours with 92 % 10-year survival. One minor group of the patients had ER- tumours, another small group had high grade tumours with nodal spread, both groups were associated with worse prognosis, but the two groups were not mutually associated