Analysing eCollaboration: Prioritisation of Monitoring Criteria for Learning Analytics in the Virtual Classroom

Purpose – This paper is part of an extensive action research project on learning analytics and focuses on the analysis criteria in Virtual Collaborative Learning (VCL) settings. We analyse how the efficiency of virtual learning facilitation can be increased by (semi-) automated learning analytics. Monitoring items are the starting point that enable the learning facilitator to identify learning problems and deduce adequate actions of intervention. However, the sophisticated media-based learning environment does not allow monitoring of vast amounts of items and appreciate the learning processes simultaneously. Design/methodology/approach – This paper fulfils the sub-goal of selecting and prioritising monitoring items for e-collaboration. The procedure is split into two Research Questions (RQ). A specification of the monitoring items will be compiled by a comparison and a consolidation of the already existing monitoring sheets. Therefore, we interviewed the responsible docents on differences and similarities. Additionally, we coded each monitoring item inductively due to their monitoring objective. As a result, we reduced the monitoring sheets to 40 final monitoring items (RQ1). In order to prioritise them, the learning facilitators scored the relevance and the complexity of the collection and assessment of data using a questionnaire. The analysis focused on differences in understanding of relevance and complexity. Further, we identified the highest scored monitoring items as well as scores with leverage potential. Afterwards we prioritised the items based on the applied analysis (RQ2). Originality/value – While previous studies on learning analytics were mostly driven by the educational data mining field and as a consequence had a technological focus. This paper is based on an existing pedagogical concept of VCL and therefore prioritises monitoring items to be implemented as selected learning analytics. Hence, it is guaranteed that the analysis is related directly to the learning content. Practical implications – This research paper achieved two outcomes: Firstly, a courseindependent standardised monitoring sheet. Thus, the reduction of the monitoring items should simplify and objectify the observation and clarify the performance review. Secondly, an insight into the relevance of each monitoring item had been delivered to the facilitators and provides significance on the quality of e-collaboration. Furthermore, the complexity score shows the necessary effort for data collection and assessment while the combination of relevance and complexity scores leads to the prioritisation of the needs of (semi-) automated learning analytics to support the learning facilitation

eCollaboration in der Hochschullehre: Bewertung mittels Learning Analytics

Wissen bekommt in unserer Gesellschaft eine immer stärkere Bedeutung und stellt Individuen und Organisationen vor verschiedenste Herausforderungen. Der gesamtwirtschaftliche Anteil materieller Güter wird gegenüber wissensintensiven Dienstleistungen zurückgehen, d.h. es bedarf zukünftig immer stärker gut aus- und weitergebildeter Experten, die miteinander die Innovationskraft von Organisationen steigern und kundenspezifische Lösungen entwickeln. Ausgehend von den für Experten benötigten Kompetenzen sogenannter Wissensarbeiter fokussiert diese Arbeit die Begleitung und Bewertung von kollaborativer Teamarbeit. Als Forschungsobjekt dienen Virtual Collaborative Learning-Veranstaltungen, in denen die zukünftigen Experten als Lernende teilnehmen. Sie werden in virtuellen Klassenräumen von Lernbegleitern beobachtet und bewertet, um sie bei der Entwicklung neuer Kompetenzen zu unterstützen und so die Erreichung der Lernziele zu gewährleisten. Da die Lernbegleitung bislang manuell durchgeführt wird, ist eine zeitnahe Beurteilung und Intervention nicht möglich. Mit Learning Analytics sollen Lösungen vorgeschlagen werden, die die Lernbegleiter in ihrer Arbeit unterstützen und den Aufwand reduzieren. Hierzu thematisiert diese Dissertation in sechs kumulativen Beiträgen, wie die zugrundeliegenden Daten verfügbar gemacht werden können und welche Beobachtungen anhand welcher Kriterien mittels ausgewählter Methoden der Learning Analytics durchgeführt werden sollten. Im Rahmen des Design Science Paradigmas werden verschiedene qualitative und quantitative Forschungsmethoden zur Datenerhebung und -auswertung angewendet. Im Ergebnis entsteht ein beispielhafter Katalog von Learning Analytics Methoden, die sich auf spezifische Erkenntnisziele der Beobachtungen von kollaborativer Gruppenarbeit beziehen. Ebenso wird der Einsatz einer ausgewählten Methode evaluiert. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse können zukünftig auf vergleichbare kollaborative Lehrangebote in der Ausbildung von Wissensarbeitern, aber auch zur Analyse und Unterstützung der virtuellen Zusammenarbeit im geschäftlichen Umfeld transferiert werden

Prefrontal Neural Activity When Feedback Is Not Relevant to Adjust Performance

It has been shown that the rostral cingulate zone (RCZ) in humans uses both positive and negative feedback to evaluate performance and to flexibly adjust behaviour. Less is known on how the feedback types are processed by the RCZ and other prefrontal brain areas, when feedback can only be used to evaluate performance, but cannot be used to adjust behaviour. The present fMRI study aimed at investigating feedback that can only be used to evaluate performance in a word-learning paradigm. One group of volunteers (N = 17) received informative, performance-dependent positive or negative feedback after each trial. Since new words had to be learnt in each trial, the feedback could not be used for task-specific adaptations. The other group (N = 17) always received non-informative feedback, providing neither information about performance nor about possible task-specific adaptations. Effects of the informational value of feedback were assessed between-subjects, comparing trials with positive and negative informative feedback to non-informative feedback. Effects of feedback valence were assessed by comparing neural activity to positive and negative feedback within the informative-feedback group. Our results show that several prefrontal regions, including the pre-SMA, the inferior frontal cortex and the insula were sensitive to both, the informational value and the valence aspect of the feedback with stronger activations to informative as compared to non-informative feedback and to informative negative compared to informative positive feedback. The only exception was RCZ which was sensitive to the informational value of the feedback, but not to feedback valence. The findings indicate that outcome information per se is sufficient to activate prefrontal brain regions, with the RCZ being the only prefrontal brain region which is equally sensitive to positive and negative feedback

Blood-based DNA methylation levels of endoglin pathway genes: do they differ in women with and without clinically-overt preeclampsia?

This observational pilot study was designed to test the hypothesis that blood-based DNA methylation levels of endoglin (ENG) and transforming growth factor beta receptor 2 (TGFβR2) gene promoter regions differ significantly when comparing women with clinically-overt preeclampsia to normotensive pregnant women matched on key variables. A 1:1 frequency matched case-control candidate gene design was used to evaluate ENG and TGFβR2 gene promoter methylation levels. Methylation data were collected using the EpiTect Methyl II quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Assay (Qiagen® Inc., Germantown, Maryland). The promoter region CpG islands evaluated included ENG (CpG Island 114642) and TGFβR2 (CpG Island 110111). Genomic DNA was extracted from maternal peripheral white blood cells via protein precipitation. The sample included n=22 preeclampsia cases 1:1 frequency matched to n=22 normotensive controls on gestational age at sample collection (± 2 weeks), smoking status, and labor status at sample collection. All participants were Caucasian and nulliparous. Preeclampsia was diagnosed based on blood pressure, protein, and uric acid criteria. Parametric and nonparametric analyses were utilized to compare demographic and clinical characteristics between cases and controls. A non-parametric approach (Mann-Whitney U) was utilized to compare methylation levels for both candidate genes between cases and controls. Average methylation levels for both ENG (Cases [M±(SD)]= 6.54% ± 4.57; Controls= 4.81% ± 5.08; p=0.102) and TGFβR2 (Cases= 1.5% ± 1.37; Controls= 1.7% ± 1.4; p= 0.695) promoter CpG islands did not significantly differ between cases and controls. The role that the ENG pathway plays in preeclampsia pathogenesis is not fully understood. Evaluation of ENG pathway blood-based DNA methylation levels will better inform us of the potential role that ENG and TGFβR2 DNA methylation plays in preeclampsia pathophysiology, including the maternal response to placental dysfunction. Although this study did not reveal detectable differences in blood-based DNA methylation levels of ENG and TGFβR2 gene promoters during clinically-overt preeclampsia, additional epigenetic studies with larger sample sizes are needed to enhance our understanding of preeclampsia pathophysiology and to inform the development of prevention, detection (e.g. biomarkers), and treatment modalities that improve maternal and fetal health outcomes

Web-Based Learning: A Bridge to Meet the Needs of Canadian Nurses for Doctoral Education

Canada does not have enough nurses with doctoral degrees. Such nurses fill important roles as researchers, educators, leaders, and clinicians. While a growing number of Canadian universities offer doctorate degrees in nursing, most institutions have only traditional on-campus programs, posing barriers for nurses who reside in places geographically distant from those institutions or who require more flexibility in their education. We describe our experiences as the inaugural cohort of the doctoral program by distributed learning at the University of Victoria School of Nursing. Since 2011, we have used a variety of electronic modalities and participated in several very short on-site intensives. Our experience indicates that distributive learning modalities improve access and deliver academically rigorous programs.   Au Canada, il existe présentement une pénurie de personnel infirmier détenant un doctorat. De tels infirmiers assument d’importantes fonctions à titre de chercheurs, d’éducateurs, d’administrateurs et de cliniciens. Tandis qu’un nombre croissant d’universités canadiennes offrent des programmes de doctorat en sciences infirmières, la plupart des établissements n’offrent ces programmes que de manière traditionnelle, c’est-à-dire que les étudiants doivent se rendre à l’université pour assister aux cours afin de recevoir l’enseignement. Ce type de programmes constitue un obstacle pour les étudiants des régions éloignées qui ont besoin de plus de flexibilité pour y accéder. Le présent article décrit notre expérience à titre de première cohorte du programme de doctorat en sciences infirmières de l’École des sciences infirmières de l’Université de Victoria, offert selon ce modèle d’apprentissage échelonné. Depuis 2011, sur le site géographique de l’université, à Victoria, nous avons utilisé une variété de moyens pédagogiques alliant technologie et courts stages intensifs. Notre expérience démontre que les modèles d’apprentissage échelonné améliorent l’accès aux programmes académiques de haute qualité et en rehaussent la qualité académique

Comparative Analysis of the Frequency and Distribution of Stem and Progenitor Cells in the Adult Mouse Brain

cells (NSCs) and progenitor cells, but it cannot discriminate between these two populations. Given two assays have purported to overcome this shortfall, we performed a comparative analysis of the distribution and frequency of NSCs and progenitor cells detected in 400 m coronal segments along the ventricular neuraxis of the adult mouse brain using the neurosphere assay, the neural colony forming cell assay (N-CFCA), and label-retaining cell (LRC) approach. We observed a large variation in the number of progenitor/stem cells detected in serial sections along the neuraxis, with the number of neurosphereforming cells detected in individual 400 m sections varying from a minimum of eight to a maximum of 891 depending upon the rostral-caudal coordinate assayed. Moreover, the greatest variability occurred in the rostral portion of the lateral ventricles, thereby explaining the large variation in neurosphere frequency previously reported. Whereas the overall number of neurospheres (3730 276) or colonies (4275 124) we detected along the neuraxis did not differ significantly, LRC numbers were significantly reduced (1186 188, 7 month chase) in comparison to both total colonies and neurospheres. Moreover, approximately two orders of magnitude fewer NSC-derived colonies (50 10) were detected using the N-CFCA as compared to LRCs. Given only 5% of the LRCs are cycling (BrdU/Ki-67) or competent to divide (BrdU/Mcm-2), and proliferate upon transfer to culture, it is unclear whether this technique selectively detects endogenous NSCs. Overall, caution should be taken with the interpretation and employment of all these techniques

Hematopoietic potential of neural stem cells

n/

Wissensmanagement im Kontext öffentlich-rechtlicher Rahmenbedingungen: Praktische Erfahrungen aus einem Wasserverband

Das vorgestellte Projekt zeigt anhand des Wissensmanagement-Modells von, welche Bausteine vor dem Hintergrund der zeitkritischen Rahmenbedingung des demografischen Wandels für einen Wasserverband priorisiert werden sollten. Der Praxispartner wird hierzu in die Vorgehensweise eingeordnet und es werden zwei Maßnahmen der Kodifizierung erläutert. Abschließend zeigt ein Fallbeispiel den bereits erzielten Nutzen

Case studies of postponement in the supply chain

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-88).The thesis addresses the growing trend in business to offer a wide variety of products while maintaining customer order fulfillment expectations. This trend is happening at the same time the US is losing manufacturing jobs to overseas labor markets, namely China, India, and Central America. While it may not be possible for the US to compete with these countries on the basis of labor costs or even quality in manufacturing, it can compete in the area of faster delivery times and product-service interaction which must inherently take place onshore. Postponement is a strategy that allows businesses to take advantage of the offshore capacity and labor for manufacturing in addition to local finishing centers for final assembly, packaging, and distribution. Postponement is widely used in the automotive, apparel, and consumer electronics industries. Many companies produce products that are candidates for postponement but are unlikely to undergo the implementation changes necessary to support it. This thesis highlights some of the leading companies who are pioneers of postponement and includes case studies of additional companies who have followed their lead.(cont.) They have seen the tangible benefits of lower inventory costs, quicker response time, better forecasts, and more variety as well as the intangible benefits of better customer service and the coordination and integration of manufacturing, sales, and marketing functions. The assortment and range of case studies suggest that postponement is used across a breadth of industries and not only profitable as a business strategy but also as a means for creating local jobs because of the inherent product-customer interaction.by Susan M. Rietze.S.M