Developing transferable skills through academic motivation activities

The purpose of this study is to work out how a clear and motivated task goal set for the students can develop several skills that are not only useful in their specific academic contexts but also serve to reinforce links and cooperation with the labor market. The following research on skills was taken during one academic year. The students collected advertisements likely to be selected in a near future by themselves as possibilities to apply for a job. The advertisements selected were 120, and all of them were published on the internet either in jobs links or located by the students themselves in the web-practices of their choice. All the advertisements chosen by the students provided us with a skill list focused on architectural profiles. To conclude, academic research skills versus future motivation jobs positions are fruitful paths to conduct successful students´response at job interviews.

Negotiation Games: Acquiring Skills by Playing

This paper shows the research done at the School of Industrial Engineers (ETSII) of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM), in two consecutive academic courses. In this negotiation game each team is formed by three students playing different roles, with a different degree of complexity. The game is played three different times changing the conditions and doing the Zones of Possible Agreement (ZOPA) smaller so the negotiation is going “harder” and it was more difficult for the team to achieve an agreement. Roles were distributed according to the student’s experience, since it was understood that difficulty of the roles was different, especially when there was set a time limit for negotiation. The combination of playing and training has shown that students without particularly good negotiating skills at the beginning of the experiment attained better final results than those who have natural negotiating skills, but no benefit of training.

Analysing written production competence descriptors for academic and professional purposes and their calibration to the CEFR

The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) "describes in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop so as to be able to act effectively" (Council of Europe, 2001: 1). This paper reports on the findings of two studies whose purpose was to assess written production competence descriptors meant for their inclusion into the Academic and Professional English Language Portfolio KELP) for students of engineering and architecture. The main objective of these studies was to establish whether the language competence descriptors were a satisfactory valid tool in their language programmes from the point of view of clarity, relevance and reliability, as perceived by the students and fellow English for Academic Purposes (RAP) / English for Science and Technology (EST) instructors. The studies shed light on how to improve unsatisfactory descriptors. Results show that the final descriptor lists were on the whole well calibrated and fairly well written: the great majority was considered valid for both teachers and students involved.

Estudio de patrones de interacción entre los estudiantes y la Plataforma de Tele-Enseñanza en la UPM

Vivimos en una sociedad en la que la información ha adquirido una vital importancia. El uso de Internet y el desarrollo de nuevos sistemas de la información han generado un ferviente interés tanto de empresas como de instituciones en la búsqueda de nuevos patrones que les proporcione la clave del éxito. La Analítica de Negocio reúne un conjunto de herramientas, estrategias y técnicas orientadas a la explotación de la información con el objetivo de crear conocimiento útil dentro de un marco de trabajo y facilitar la optimización de los recursos tanto de empresas como de instituciones. El presente proyecto se enmarca en lo que se conoce como Gestión Educativa. Se aplicará una arquitectura y modelo de trabajo similar a lo que se ha venido haciendo en los últimos años en el entorno empresarial con la Inteligencia de Negocio. Con esta variante, se pretende mejorar la calidad de la enseñanza, agilizar las decisiones dentro de la institución académica, fortalecer las capacidades del cuerpo docente y en definitiva favorecer el aprendizaje del alumnado. Para lograr el objetivo se ha decidido seguir las etapas del Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD), una de las metodologías más conocidas dentro de la Inteligencia de Negocio, que describe el procedimiento que va desde la selección de la información y su carga en sistemas de almacenamiento, hasta la aplicación de técnicas de minería de datos para la obtención nuevo conocimiento. Los estudios se realizan a partir de la información de la activad de los usuarios dentro la plataforma de Tele-Enseñanza de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Moodle). Se desarrollan trabajos de extracción y preprocesado de la base de datos en crudo y se aplican técnicas de minería de datos. En la aplicación de técnicas de minería de datos, uno de los factores más importantes a tener en cuenta es el tipo de información que se va a tratar. Por este motivo, se trabaja con la Minería de Datos Educativa, en inglés, Educational Data Mining (EDM) que consiste en la aplicación de técnicas de minería optimizadas para la información que se genera en entornos educativos. Dentro de las posibilidades que ofrece el EDM, se ha decidido centrar los estudios en lo que se conoce como analítica predictiva. El objetivo fundamental es conocer la influencia que tienen las interacciones alumno-plataforma en las calificaciones finales y descubrir nuevas reglas que describan comportamientos que faciliten al profesorado discriminar si un estudiante va a aprobar o suspender la asignatura, de tal forma que se puedan tomar medidas que mejoren su rendimiento. Toda la información tratada en el presente proyecto ha sido previamente anonimizada para evitar cualquier tipo de intromisión que atente contra la privacidad de los elementos participantes en el estudio. ABSTRACT. We live in a society dominated by data. The use of the Internet accompanied by developments in information systems has generated a sustained interest among companies and institutions to discover new patterns to succeed in their business ventures. Business Analytics (BA) combines tools, strategies and techniques focused on exploiting the available information, to optimize resources and create useful insight. The current project is framed under Educational Management. A Business Intelligence (BI) architecture and business models taught up to date will be applied with the aim to accelerate the decision-making in academic institutions, strengthen teacher´s skills and ultimately improve the quality of teaching and learning. The best way to achieve this is to follow the Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD), one of the best-known methodologies in B.I. This process describes data preparation, selection, and cleansing through to the application of purely Data Mining Techniques in order to incorporate prior knowledge on data sets and interpret accurate solutions from the observed results. The studies will be performed using the information extracted from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle. The stored data is based on the user-platform interaction. The raw data will be extracted and pre-processed and afterwards, Data Mining Techniques will be applied. One of the crucial factors in the application of Data Mining Techniques is the kind of information that will be processed. For this reason, a new Data Mining perspective will be taken, called Educational Data Mining (EDM). EDM consists of the application of Data Mining Techniques but optimized for the raw data generated by the educational environment. Within EDM, we have decided to drive our research on what is called Predictive Analysis. The main purpose is to understand the influence of the user-platform interactions in the final grades of students and discover new patterns that explain their behaviours. This could allow teachers to intervene ahead of a student passing or failing, in such a way an action could be taken to improve the student performance. All the information processed has been previously anonymized to avoid the invasion of privacy.

Aprendizaje integrado en arquitectura con modelos virtuales : implementación de metodología BIM en la docencia universitaria

Los procesos de diseño y construcción en Arquitectura han mostrado un desarrollo de optimización históricamente muy deficiente cuando se compara con las restantes actividades típicamente industriales. La aspiración constante a una industrialización efectiva, tanto en aras de alcanzar mayores cotas de calidad así como de ahorro de recursos, recibe hoy una oportunidad inmejorable desde el ámbito informático: el Building Information Modelling o BIM. Lo que en un inicio puede parecer meramente un determinado tipo de programa informático, en realidad supone un concepto de “proceso” que subvierte muchas rutinas hoy habituales en el desarrollo de proyectos y construcciones arquitectónicas. La inclusión y desarrollo de datos ligados al proyecto, desde su inicio hasta el fin de su ciclo de vida, conlleva la oportunidad de crear una realidad virtual dinámica y actualizable, que por añadidura posibilita su ensayo y optimización en todos sus aspectos: antes y durante su ejecución, así como vida útil. A ello se suma la oportunidad de transmitir eficientemente los datos completos de proyecto, sin apenas pérdidas o reelaboración, a la cadena de fabricación, lo que facilita el paso a una industrialización verdaderamente significativa en edificación. Ante una llamada mundial a la optimización de recursos y el interés indudable de aumentar beneficios económicos por medio de la reducción del factor de incertidumbre de los procesos, BIM supone un opción de mejora indudable, y así ha sido reconocido a través de la inminente implantación obligatoria por parte de los gobiernos (p. ej. Gran Bretaña en 2016 y España en 2018). La modificación de procesos y roles profesionales que conlleva la incorporación de BIM resulta muy significativa y marcará el ejercicio profesional de los futuros graduados en las disciplinas de Arquitectura, Ingeniería y Construcción (AEC por sus siglas en inglés). La universidad debe responder ágilmente a estas nuevas necesidades incorporando esta metodología en la enseñanza reglada y aportando una visión sinérgica que permita extraer los beneficios formativos subyacentes en el propio marco BIM. En este sentido BIM, al aglutinar el conjunto de datos sobre un único modelo virtual, ofrece un potencial singularmente interesante. La realidad tridimensional del modelo, desarrollada y actualizada continuamente, ofrece al estudiante una gestión radicalmente distinta de la representación gráfica, en la que las vistas parciales de secciones y plantas, tan complejas de asimilar en los inicios de la formación universitaria, resultan en una mera petición a posteriori, para ser extraída según necesidad del modelo virtual. El diseño se realiza siempre sobre el propio modelo único, independientemente de la vista de trabajo elegida en cada momento, permaneciendo los datos y sus relaciones constructivas siempre actualizados y plenamente coherentes. Esta descripción condensada de características de BIM preconfiguran gran parte de las beneficios formativos que ofrecen los procesos BIM, en especial, en referencia al desarrollo del diseño integrado y la gestión de la información (incluyendo TIC). Destacan a su vez las facilidades en comprensión visual de elementos arquitectónicos, sistemas técnicos, sus relaciones intrínsecas así como procesos constructivos. A ello se une el desarrollo experimental que la plataforma BIM ofrece a través de sus software colaborativos: la simulación del comportamiento estructural, energético, económico, entre otros muchos, del modelo virtual en base a los datos inherentes del proyecto. En la presente tesis se describe un estudio de conjunto para explicitar tanto las cualidades como posibles reservas en el uso de procesos BIM, en el marco de una disciplina concreta: la docencia de la Arquitectura. Para ello se ha realizado una revisión bibliográfica general sobre BIM y específica sobre docencia en Arquitectura, así como analizado las experiencias de distintos grupos de interés en el marco concreto de la enseñanza de la en Arquitectura en la Universidad Europea de Madrid. El análisis de beneficios o reservas respecto al uso de BIM se ha enfocado a través de la encuesta a estudiantes y la entrevista a profesionales AEC relacionados o no con BIM. Las conclusiones del estudio permiten sintetizar una implantación de metodología BIM que para mayor claridad y facilidad de comunicación y manejo, se ha volcado en un Marco de Implantación eminentemente gráfico. En él se orienta sobre las acciones docentes para el desarrollo de competencias concretas, valiéndose de la flexibilidad conceptual de los Planes de Estudio en el contexto del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (Declaración de Bolonia) para incorporar con naturalidad la nueva herramienta docente al servicio de los objetivos formativo legalmente establecidos. El enfoque global del Marco de Implementación propuesto facilita la planificación de acciones formativas con perspectiva de conjunto: combinar los formatos puntuales o vehiculares BIM, establecer sinergias transversales y armonizar recursos, de modo que la metodología pueda beneficiar tanto la asimilación de conocimientos y habilidades establecidas para el título, como el propio flujo de aprendizaje o learn flow BIM. Del mismo modo reserva, incluso visualmente, aquellas áreas de conocimiento en las que, al menos en la planificación actual, la inclusión de procesos BIM no se considera ventajosa respecto a otras metodologías, o incluso inadecuadas para los objetivos docentes establecidos. Y es esta última categorización la que caracteriza el conjunto de conclusiones de esta investigación, centrada en: 1. la incuestionable necesidad de formar en conceptos y procesos BIM desde etapas muy iniciales de la formación universitaria en Arquitectura, 2. los beneficios formativos adicionales que aporta BIM en el desarrollo de competencias muy diversas contempladas en el currículum académico y 3. la especificidad del rol profesional del arquitecto que exigirá una implantación cuidadosa y ponderada de BIM que respete las metodologías de desarrollo creativo tradicionalmente efectivas, y aporte valor en una reorientación simbiótica con el diseño paramétrico y fabricación digital que permita un diseño finalmente generativo. ABSTRACT The traditional architectural design and construction procedures have proven to be deficient where process optimization is concerned, particularly when compared to other common industrial activities. The ever‐growing strife to achieve effective industrialization, both in favor of reaching greater quality levels as well as sustainable management of resources, has a better chance today than ever through a mean out of the realm of information technology, the Building Information Modelling o BIM. What may initially seem to be merely another computer program, in reality turns out to be a “process” concept that subverts many of today’s routines in architectural design and construction. Including and working with project data from the very beginning to the end of its full life cycle allows for creating a dynamic and updatable virtual reality, enabling data testing and optimizing throughout: before and during execution, all the way to the end of its lifespan. In addition, there is an opportunity to transmit complete project data efficiently, with hardly any loss or redeveloping of the manufacture chain required, which facilitates attaining a truly significant industrialization within the construction industry. In the presence of a world‐wide call for optimizing resources, along with an undeniable interest in increasing economic benefits through reducing uncertainty factors in its processes, BIM undoubtedly offers a chance for improvement as acknowledged by its imminent and mandatory implementation on the part of governments (for example United Kingdom in 2016 and Spain in 2018). The changes involved in professional roles and procedures upon incorporating BIM are highly significant and will set the course for future graduates of Architecture, Engineering and Construction disciplines (AEC) within their professions. Higher Education must respond to such needs with swiftness by incorporating this methodology into their educational standards and providing a synergetic vision that focuses on the underlying educational benefits inherent in the BIM framework. In this respect, BIM, in gathering data set under one single virtual model, offers a uniquely interesting potential. The three‐dimensional reality of the model, under continuous development and updating, provides students with a radically different graphic environment, in which partial views of elevation, section or plan that tend characteristically to be difficult to assimilate at the beginning of their studies, become mere post hoc requests to be ordered when needed directly out the virtual model. The design is always carried out on the sole model itself, independently of the working view chosen at any particular moment, with all data and data relations within construction permanently updated and fully coherent. This condensed description of the features of BIM begin to shape an important part of the educational benefits posed by BIM processes, particularly in reference to integrated design development and information management (including ITC). At the same time, it highlights the ease with which visual understanding is achieved regarding architectural elements, technology systems, their intrinsic relationships, and construction processes. In addition to this, there is the experimental development the BIM platform grants through its collaborative software: simulation of structural, energetic, and economic behavior, among others, of the virtual model according to the data inherent to the project. This doctoral dissertation presents a broad study including a wide array of research methods and issues in order to specify both the virtues and possible reservations in the use of BIM processes within the framework of a specific discipline: teaching Architecture. To do so, a literature review on BIM has been carried out, specifically concerning teaching in the discipline of Architecture, as well as an analysis of the experience of different groups of interest delimited to Universidad Europea de Madrid. The analysis of the benefits and/or limitations of using BIM has been approached through student surveys and interviews with professionals from the AEC sector, associated or not, with BIM. Various diverse educational experiences are described and academic management for experimental implementation has been analyzed. The conclusions of this study offer a synthesis for a Framework of Implementation of BIM methodology, which in order to reach greater clarity, communication ease and user‐friendliness, have been posed in an eminently graphic manner. The proposed framework proffers guidance on teaching methods conducive to the development of specific skills, taking advantage of the conceptual flexibility of the European Higher Education Area guidelines based on competencies, which naturally facilitate for the incorporation of this new teaching tool to achieve the educational objectives established by law. The global approach of the Implementation Framework put forth in this study facilitates the planning of educational actions within a common perspective: combining exceptional or vehicular BIM formats, establishing cross‐disciplinary synergies, and sharing resources, so as to purport a methodology that contributes to the assimilation of knowledge and pre‐defined competencies within the degree program, and to the flow of learning itself. At the same time, it reserves, even visually, those areas of knowledge in which the use of BIM processes is not considered necessarily an advantage over other methodologies, or even inadequate for the learning outcomes established, at least where current planning is concerned. It is this last category which characterizes the research conclusions as a whole, centering on: 1. The unquestionable need for teaching BIM concepts and processes in Architecture very early on, in the initial stages of higher education; 2. The additional educational benefits that BIM offers in a varied array of competency development within the academic curriculum; and 3. The specific nature of the professional role of the Architect, which demands a careful and balanced implementation of BIM that respects the traditional teaching methodologies that have proven effective and creative, and adds value by a symbiotic reorientation merged with parametric design and digital manufacturing so to enable for a finally generative design.

A friendly online C compiler to improve programming skills based on student self-assessment

This paper presents an online C compiler designed so that students can program their practical assignments in Programming courses. What is really innovative is the self-assessment of the exercises based on black-box tests and train students’ skill to test software. Moreover, this tool lets instructors, not only proposing and classifying practical exercises, but also evaluating automatically the efforts dedicated and the results obtained by the students. The system has been applied to the 1st-year students at the Industrial Engineering specialization at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. Results show that the students obtained better academic performance, reducing the failure rate in the practical exam considerably with respect to previous years, in addition that an anonymous survey proved that students are satisfied with the system because they get instant feedback about their programs.