Enhancing Student Assignment Completion Through Gamified Mobile Applications: A Motivational Approach

This thesis explores the design of digital tools to encourage motivation for students in higher education. A design is proposed for an original prototype app that makes use of gamification techniques. Theories on improving motivation are discussed in the literature and those most suited to be implemented within a digital prototype are selected. To measure how well the prototype performs, we specifically use the delivery for coursework to be handed in a timely manner as a metric. User consultation in the form of a questionnaire is used to create part of the specification used in the prototype design. The prototype app is tested on a limited number of participants and the results reported. Results show that students using a mobile application with gamification features would be motivated to start their assignments earlier and be motivated to complete them on time however results also show that specific gamification features have more split opinions than others for e.g., the extrinsic rewards that users can earn when completing assignments and challenges. These rewards have very little tangible value to them so when earned by users, it doesn’t provide much nor does it motivate them to want to achieve more, users would prefer rewards that have a direct impact on them for e.g., being able to extend assignment deadlines. The Thesis offers theoretical and practical contributions to research and design of motivation and the use of gamification in a mobile application

Power Imbalance Detection in Smart Grid via Grid Frequency Deviations: A Hidden Markov Model based Approach

We detect the deviation of the grid frequency from the nominal value (i.e., 50 Hz), which itself is an indicator of the power imbalance (i.e., mismatch between power generation and load demand). We first pass the noisy estimates of grid frequency through a hypothesis test which decides whether there is no deviation, positive deviation, or negative deviation from the nominal value. The hypothesis testing incurs miss-classification errors---false alarms (i.e., there is no deviation but we declare a positive/negative deviation), and missed detections (i.e., there is a positive/negative deviation but we declare no deviation). Therefore, to improve further upon the performance of the hypothesis test, we represent the grid frequency's fluctuations over time as a discrete-time hidden Markov model (HMM). We note that the outcomes of the hypothesis test are actually the emitted symbols, which are related to the true states via emission probability matrix. We then estimate the hidden Markov sequence (the true values of the grid frequency) via maximum likelihood method by passing the observed/emitted symbols through the Viterbi decoder. Simulations results show that the mean accuracy of Viterbi algorithm is at least $5$\% greater than that of hypothesis test.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted by IEEE VTC conference, Fall 2018 editio

Novel Controls of Photovoltaic (PV) Solar Farms

Solar Farms are absolutely idle in the night and even during daytime operate below capacity in early mornings and late afternoons. Thus, the entire expensive asset of solar farms remains highly unutilized. This thesis presents novel technologies for utilization of PV solar farm inverter in nighttime for providing multiple benefits to power systems, as well as accomplishing the same objectives during the daytime from the inverter capacity left after production of real power. The new technology transforms a solar farm inverter functionally into a dynamic reactive power compensator known as STATCOM, and termed PV-STATCOM. A novel coordinated control of PV-STATCOMs is proposed for loss reduction in a distribution network. The saved energy is substantial and can be used for powering several homes annually. The second novel PV-STATCOM control involves a temporary curtailment of real power production and utilization of the available reactive power capacity to prevent the instability of a critical induction motor load. The third novel PVSTATCOM control is employed to significantly enhance the power transfer limit of a long transmission line both in the nighttime and also during daytime even when the solar farm is producing a large amount of real power. A new technique for short circuit current management is developed for a conventional PV solar farm that can potentially solve the problem due to which several solar farms have been denied connectivity in Ontario. This thesis has contributed to two patent applications and presented first time implementations of another two filed patents. A generalized PV solar system model in EMTDC/PSCAD software has been developed and validated with manufacturer\u27s datasheet. Another contribution of this thesis is the first time harmonics impact study of the largest solar farm in Canada, in the distribution utility network of Bluewater Power, in Sarnia, Ontario. This thesis makes a strong case for relaxing the present grid codes to allow solar farms to exercise these novel controls. This technology can open up new avenues for solar farms to earn revenues apart from the sale of real power. This will require appropriate agreements between the regulators, network utilities, solar farm developers and inverter manufacturers

Island Size Selectivity and island-shape analysis during 2D Island Coarsening of Ag/Ag (111) Surface

In our earlier study of Ag island coarsening on Ag(111) surface using kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations we found that during early stages coarsening proceeds as a sequence of selected island sizes resulting in peaks and valleys in the island-size distribution and that this selectivity is independent of initial conditions and dictated instead by the relative energetics of edge-atom diffusion and detachment/attachment processes and by the large activation barrier for kink detachment. In this paper we present a detailed analysis of the shapes of various island sizes observed during these KMC simulations and show that selectivity is due to the formation of kinetically stable island shapes which survive longer than non-selected sizes, which decay into nearby selected sizes. The stable shapes have a closed-shell structure - one in which every atom on the periphery having at least three nearest neighbors. Our KMC simulations were carried out using a very large database of processes identified by each atom's unique local environment, the activation barriers of which were calculated using semi-empirical interaction potentials based on the embedded-atom method.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figure

SLKMC-II study of self-diffusion of small Ni clusters on Ni (111) surface

We studied self-diffusion of small 2D Ni islands (consisting of up to 10 atoms) on Ni (111) surface using a self-learning kinetic Monte Carlo (SLKMC-II) method with an improved pattern-recognition scheme that allows inclusion of both fcc and hcp sites in the simulations. In an SLKMC simulation, a database holds information about the local neighborhood of an atom and associated processes that is accumulated on-the-fly as the simulation proceeds. In this study, these diffusion processes were identified using the drag method, and their activation barriers calculated using a semi-empirical interaction potential based on the embedded-atom method. Although a variety of concerted, multi-atom and single-atom processes were automatically revealed in our simulations, we found that these small islands diffuse primarily via concerted diffusion processes. We report diffusion coefficients for each island size at various tepmratures, the effective energy barrier for islands of each size and the processes most responsible for diffusion of islands of various sizes, including concerted and multi-atom processes that are not accessible under SLKMC-I or in short time-scale MD simulations

Investigation of crack propagation in X38CrMoV5 tool steel at room temperature and 600°C on small scale specimens

Les outillages de mise en forme à chaud, sont soumis à des chargements thermomécaniques sévères, qui endommagent leur surface. Une nouvelle méthode de caractérisation de l'endommagement par fatigue est proposée. Des éprouvettes de dimensions réduites, représentatives de la surface, ont été utilisées. Les essais de propagation de fissure en fatigue sur l'acier à outil X38CrMoV5 traité à 47 HRC sont réalisés à la température ambiante et à 600°C. Les effets de l'épaisseur de l'éprouvette, du rapport de charge et de la température ont été étudiés. Différents paramètres de propagation de fissure ont été établis à l'aide de la simulation numérique. Une méthode de mesure de l'ouverture en fond de fissure, utilisant une caméra numérique et un microscope à longue portée, a été développée. Les images acquises sont ensuite traitées par corrélation d'images pour mesurer l'ouverture de fissure. Un modèle de propagation de fissure basé sur l'ouverture en fond de fissure a été développé.Forging and high pressure die casting processes impose heavy mechanical loads on die materials and tools damaging their surface during production. This study proposes a novel method of characterisation of the surface damage of tool steels using thin specimens. Fatigue crack propagation experiments are carried out on the tool steel X38CrMoV5 at ambient temperature as well as at 600°C. The effect of specimen thickness, load ratio and temperature on the fatigue crack propagation is studied. Different fatigue crack propagation parameters are established using numerical simulations. A method of crack tip opening displacement measurement is developed. This method is based on image acquisition with the help of a digital camera and a long distance microscope followed by an image correlation procedure, to measure the crack opening displacements. A fatigue crack propagation model based on crack opening displacement is developed and compared with traditional propagation models

Modern Slavery and Forced Labour: An Overview of International Law, the Malaysian Law and Islamic Law Perspectives

The paper aims to provide an overview of modern slavery and forced labour under international, Malaysian and Islamic law perspectives. It employs doctrinal methods which mainly focus on library-based research through legal analysis and review of past works, as well as the historical and explanatory method that help explain the views of commentators and scholars in international and Islamic law. It then connects ideas to understand the issue in the local context. This paper concludes that there is a lack of a clear definition of modern slavery universally, which makes it difficult to identify whether the exploitation of the workers, is amounting to merely a violation of rights or to some extent is amounting to slavery or forced labour or trafficking of persons as demarcated by either International law or the Malaysian law. Nevertheless, Islamic law has not given much emphasis on definition, rather it provides remedy and guidelines in protecting workers from oppression and slavery such as regulating the relationship between the employer and the worker according to the precise legal criteria to guarantee fulfilment of rights and non-aggression so that labour does not turn into a new arena of modern slavery.   Abstrak: Paper ini bertujuan untuk memberikan gambaran tentang perbudakan modern dan kerja paksa di bawah perspektif hukum internasional, hukum Malaysia dan hukum Islam. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode doktrinal melalui analisis hukum dan tinjauan karya-karya masa lalu, serta metode sejarah yang membantu menjelaskan pandangan para komentator dan sarjana dalam hukum internasional dan hukum Islam yang dihubungkan dengan ide-ide untuk memahami masalah dalam konteks lokal. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa ada kekurangan definisi yang jelas tentang perbudakan modern secara universal, yang membuat sulit untuk mengidentifikasi apakah eksploitasi pekerja, hanya merupakan pelanggaran hak atau sampai batas tertentu merupakan perbudakan atau kerja paksa atau perdagangan orang sebagaimana diatur oleh hukum Internasional atau hukum Malaysia. Namun demikian, hukum Islam belum banyak memberikan penekanan pada definisi, melainkan memberikan perbaikan dan pedoman dalam melindungi pekerja dari penindasan dan perbudakan, seperti mengatur hubungan antara majikan dan pekerja sesuai dengan kriteria hukum yang tepat untuk menjamin pemenuhan hak sehingga tenaga kerja tidak berubah selalu menjadi arena perbudakan modern