Providing behaviour awareness in collaborative project courses

Several studies show that awareness mechanisms can contribute to enhance the collaboration process among students and the learning experiences during collaborative project courses. However, it is not clear what awareness information should be provided to whom, when it should be provided, and how to obtain and represent such information in an accurate and understandable way. Regardless the research efforts done in this area, the problem remains open. By recognizing the diversity of work scenarios (contexts) where the collaboration may occur, this research proposes a behaviour awareness mechanism to support collaborative work in undergraduate project courses. Based on the authors previous experiences and the literature in the area, the proposed mechanism considers personal and social awareness components, which represent metrics in a visual way, helping students realize their performance, and lecturers intervene when needed. The trustworthiness of the mechanisms for determining the metrics was verified using empirical data, and the usability and usefulness of these metrics were evaluated with undergraduate students. Experimental results show that this awareness mechanism is useful, understandable and representative of the observed scenarios.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Providing behaviour awareness in collaborative project courses

Several studies show that awareness mechanisms can contribute to enhance the collaboration process among students and the learning experiences during collaborative project courses. However, it is not clear what awareness information should be provided to whom, when it should be provided, and how to obtain and represent such information in an accurate and understandable way. Regardless the research efforts done in this area, the problem remains open. By recognizing the diversity of work scenarios (contexts) where the collaboration may occur, this research proposes a behaviour awareness mechanism to support collaborative work in undergraduate project courses. Based on the authors previous experiences and the literature in the area, the proposed mechanism considers personal and social awareness components, which represent metrics in a visual way, helping students realize their performance, and lecturers intervene when needed. The trustworthiness of the mechanisms for determining the metrics was verified using empirical data, and the usability and usefulness of these metrics were evaluated with undergraduate students. Experimental results show that this awareness mechanism is useful, understandable and representative of the observed scenarios.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Ecos en la escritura. Tecnología y experiencia en la novela latinoamericana de vanguardia

Ecos en la escritura (Échos dans l’écriture) vise à explorer la représentation de l’expérience dans le roman d’avant-garde latino-américain. D’après les idées de Walter Benjamin, nous définissons « l’expérience » comme une façon de donner du sens, tant à une série de perceptions et affections corporelles, qu’au récit historique d’une culture. Depuis la fin du 19e et le début du 20e siècle, l’expérience est radicalement transformée par l’émergence des nouveaux médias et des nouvelles technologies d’inscription, telles que la photographie, le cinéma, le phonographe, la machine à écrire et la radio. Ainsi, en dialogue avec la théorie des médias de Friedrich Kittler et Katherine Hayles et, dans un contexte latino-américain, avec les œuvres de Rubén Gallo et Flora Süssekind, nous analysons un groupe des romans d’avant-garde pour montrer les effets des technologies d’inscription sur les modalités de représentation. Le corpus comprend les romans suivants : Los siete locos (1929) y Los lanzallamas (1931), de Roberto Arlt; Cubagua (1931) de Enrique Bernardo Núñez; La casa de cartón (1928) de Martín Adán; Un año (1935) y Ayer (1935) de Juan Emar; Débora (1927) de Pablo Palacio; Museo de la novela de la Eterna (1925/1967) de Macedonio Fernández. Nous lisons les nouvelles modalités de représentation comme une manière de contestation des modes de représentation du roman réaliste du 19e siècle. Afin de montrer les différentes façons dont ces romans reflètent les changements dans l’expérience, nous avons organisé les chapitres pour démontrer l’éloignement du réalisme et l’incursion progressive des technologies d’inscription. La technologie des médias apparaît, tout d’abord, représentée sous forme de thème ou de manière subtile dans les descriptions de la perception des personnages. Ensuite, la technologie apparaît de manière plus explicite, affectant les modalités de la représentation et la qualité même de l’écriture, en accentuant le virage méta-narratif par lequel le roman d’avant-garde dissout la diégèse du roman réaliste. Enfin, la préoccupation d’avant-garde pour les médias est dirigée vers le substrat matériel du roman, le livre imprimé, dont la disparition ouvre la possibilité à d’autres formes d’inspiration. Ainsi, par l’étude de l’avant-garde latino-américaine, nous réfléchissons aux effets de la technologie dans la formation de l’expérience, et aussi sur les relations entre l’expérience et les formes de représentation.Ecos en la escritura (Echoes in Writing) explores how the Latin American avant-garde novels represent a type of modern experience. Drawing from the ideas of Walter Benjamin, we define “experience” as a way of making sense of a series of perceptions and bodily affections, on the one hand, and of a certain historical discourse and historicity, on the other. From the 19th century and first decades of the 20th, experience is radically transformed as a result of the emergence of new media and inscription technologies, such as the photography and the cinema, the phonograph, the typewriter, and the radio. In dialogue with the media theorists Friedrich Kittler and Katherine Hayles, and, in Latin American contexts, with the writings of Rubén Gallo and Flora Süssekind, we analyze a group of Latin American avant-garde novels to show the effects of inscription technology on the modalities of literary representation. The corpus includes the following novels: Los siete locos (1929) y Los lanzallamas (1931) by Roberto Arlt; Cubagua (1931) by Enrique Bernárdo Núñez; La casa de cartón (1928) by Martín Adán; Un año (1935) and Ayer (1935) by Juan Emar; Débora (1927) by Pablo Palacio; Museo de la novela de la Eterna (1925/1967) by Macedonio Fernández. We read the new modalities of representation as a contestation of the modes of representations embodied in the 19th century realist novel, still prevalent in the early 20th century. In our presentation of these novels’ representation of the profound shift in experience, we have organized the chapters to demonstrate the move away from the realism and the progressive incursions of inscription technologies. Media technologies first appear as a theme or in a more subtle descriptions of perceptions for the characters, and are later shown to affect the modalities of representation, the very quality of writing, and to inspire a meta-narrative turn that effectively dissolves the diegesis typical of the popular realist novel. Finally, the avant-garde concern for media turns to the novel’s material substratum, the printed book, whose disappearance allows for others forms of inspirations to appear. Throughout this research on the Latin American avant-garde we think about the effects of technology on the constitution and formation of experience, and about the relations between experience and forms of representation.Ecos en la escritura tiene como objetivo explorar la representación de la experiencia en la novela de vanguardia latinoamericanas. A partir de las ideas de Walter Benjamin, definimos “experiencia” como una manera de dar sentido tanto a una serie de percepciones y afecciones corporales como al relato histórico de una cultura. Desde finales del siglo 19 y comienzos del 20, la experiencia se transforma radicalmente con el surgimiento de nuevos medios y tecnologías de inscripción, tales como fotografía y el cine, el fonógrafo, la máquina de escribir y la radio. Así, en diálogo con la teoría de los medios de Friedrich Kittler y Katherine Hayles, y, en un contexto latinoamericano, con los trabajos de Rubén Gallo y Flora Süssekind, analizamos un grupo de novelas vanguardistas para mostrar los efectos de las tecnologías de inscripción en las modalidades de representación. El corpus se delimita a las siguientes novelas: Los siete locos (1929) y Los lanzallamas (1931) , de Roberto Arlt; Cubagua (1931) de Enrique Bernardo Núñez; La casa de cartón (1928) de Martín Adán; Un año (1935) y Ayer (1935) de Juan Emar; Débora (1927) de Pablo Palacio; Museo de la novela de la Eterna (1925/1967) de Macedonio Fernández. Leemos las nuevas modalidades de representación como una forma de contestación a los modos de representación de la novela realista del siglo 19, aún en vigencia en el siglo 20. Para mostrar las diferentes maneras en que estas novelas reflejan los cambios en la experiencia, hemos organizado los capítulos en función de demostrar el alejamiento del realismo y la progresiva incursión de las tecnologías de inscripción. La tecnología de medios aparece, en primer lugar, representada como tema o bien de manera sutil en descripciones de la percepción de los personajes. Luego, en segundo lugar, la tecnología aparece de manera más explícita, afectando las modalidades de representación y la cualidad misma de la escritura, acentuando el giro metanarrativo con el cual la novela de vanguardia disuelve la diégesis propia de la novela realista. Finalmente, la preocupación de la vanguardia por los medios se dirige al sustrato material de la novela, el libro impreso, cuya desaparición abre la posibilidad de otras formas de inspiración. Así, a través de un estudio sobre las vanguardias latinoamericanas podemos reflexionar sobre el efecto de la tecnología en la formación de la experiencia y también sobre la relación entre experiencia y formas de representación

Spatial interpolation and orographic correction to estimate wind energy resource in Venezuela

This paper presents a wind resource assessment in Venezuela using an efficient combination of spatial interpolation and orographic correction for wind mapping. Mesoscale modelling offers a relatively accurate means to model meteorological conditions by solving the continuity and momentum equations. However, this approach is both time and computationally demanding. The methodology used in this work offers a computationally inexpensive solution by combining both a simple geo-statistical Kriging method to interpolate horizontal wind speed and an orographic correction to account for changes on terrain elevation. Hourly observations of wind speed and direction for 34 masts recorded during the period 2005–2009 have been analysed in order to define a statistical model of wind resources. The resulting method, which includes an exploratory statistical analysis of the wind data, is a computationally economical alternative to mesoscale modelling. Simulations results include equivalent mean wind speeds and wind power maps which have been created to a height of 50, 80 and 120 m above the ground based on a horizontal resolution of 15×15 km. Results show that the greatest wind energy resources are located in the coastal area of Venezuela with a potential for offshore applications. Preliminary findings provide a very positive evidence for offshore exploitation of wind power. Results also suggest that wind energy resources for commercial use (utility-scale) are available in northern Venezuela, additionally; they suggest excellent conditions for wind power production for micro-scale applications, both on- and off-grid