Accurate image capturing control of bottle caps based on iterative learning control and Kalman filtering

This paper investigates camera control for capturing bottle cap target images in the fault-detection system of an industrial production line. The main purpose is to identify the targeted bottle caps accurately in real time from the images. This is achieved by combining iterative learning control and Kalman filtering to reduce the effect of various disturbances introduced into the detection system. A mathematical model, together with a physical simulation platform is established based on the actual production requirements, and the convergence properties of the model are analyzed. It is shown that the proposed method enables accurate real-time control of the camera, and further, the gain range of the learning rule is also obtained. The numerical simulation and experimental results confirm that the proposed method can not only reduce the effect of repeatable disturbances but also non-repeatable ones.

Using low fidelity simulation in interactive workshops for undergraduate medical and midwifery students

There is recognition of the need to continuously improve inter-professional relationships within clinical practice. Mutual respect, effective communication and working together are factors which will contribute to higher standards of care (Miers et al, 2005; Begley, 2008). An inter-professional education initiative, using low-fidelity simulation has been piloted and subsequently embedded within a pre-registration midwifery curriculum. The aim of the collaboration is to enhance inter-professional learning by providing an opportunity for final year midwifery students and 4th year medical students within a non-threatening environment to interact and communicate prior to obstetric clinical placements. The midwifery students are provided with an outline agenda for the workshop, but are encouraged to use creative license with regard to workshop delivery. Preliminary evaluations have been positive from both midwifery and medical students. The teaching sessions have provided an opportunity to learn about and respect each other’s roles. The midwifery students have commented on the enjoyable aspects of team working during preparation and the confidence gained from teaching medical students. The medical students felt that the sessions lowered their anxiety levels going into the labour setting. This workshop will demonstrate how low-fidelity simulation can effectively enhance the students experience promoting team working and self-confidence.

Current understanding of learning psychomotor skills and the impact on teaching laparoscopic surgical skills

Key content
- Trainees face many challenges in learning the skill set required to perform laparoscopic surgery.
- The time spent in the operating room has been detrimentally impacted upon since the implementation of the European Working Time Directive. In order to address the deficit, surgical educators have looked to the benefits enjoyed in the aviation and sports industries in using simulation training.

Learning objectives
- To summarise the current understanding of the neuropsychological basis of learning a psychomotor skill.
- To clarify factors that influence the acquisition of these skills.
- To summarise how this information can be used in teaching and assessment of laparoscopic skills.

Ethical issues
- The use of virtual reality simulators may be able to form a part of the aptitude assessment in the selection process, in order to identify trainees with the desired attributes to progress into the training programmes. However, as skill improves with practice, is it ethical to exclude novices with poor initial performance assessment before allowing them the opportunities to improve?

Undergraduate interprofessional education using high-fidelity paediatric simulation

BACKGROUND: High-fidelity simulation is becoming increasingly important in the delivery of teaching and learning to health care professionals within a safe environment. Its use in an interprofessional context and at undergraduate level has the potential to facilitate the learning of good communication and teamworking, in addition to clinical knowledge and skills.

METHODS: Interprofessional teaching and learning workshops using high-fidelity paediatric simulation were developed and delivered to undergraduate medical and nursing students at Queen's University Belfast. Learning outcomes common to both professions, and essential in the clinical management of sick children, included basic competencies, communication and teamworking skills. Quantitative and qualitative evaluation was undertaken using published questionnaires.

RESULTS: Quantitative results - the 32-item questionnaire was analysed for reliability using spss. Responses were positive for both groups of students across four domains - acquisition of knowledge and skills, communication and teamworking, professional identity and role awareness, and attitudes to shared learning. Qualitative results - thematic content analysis was used to analyse open-ended responses. Students from both groups commented that an interprofessional education (IPE) approach to paediatric simulation improved clinical and practice-based skills, and provided a safe learning environment. Students commented that there should be more interprofessional and simulation learning opportunities.

DISCUSSION: High-fidelity paediatric simulation, used in an interprofessional context, has the potential to meet the requirements of undergraduate medical and nursing curricula. Further research is needed into the long-term benefits for patient care, and its generalisability to other areas within health care teaching and learning.

An Automated Design Framework for Assembly Task Simulation

This paper presents an automated design framework for the development of individual part forming tools for a composite stiffener. The framework uses parametrically developed design geometries for both the part and its layup tool. The framework has been developed with a functioning user interface where part / tool combinations are passed to a virtual environment for utility based assessment of their features and assemblability characteristics. The work demonstrates clear benefits in process design methods with conventional design timelines reduced from hours and days to minutes and seconds. The methods developed here were able to produce a digital mock up of a component with its associated layup tool in less than 3 minutes. The virtual environment presenting the design to the designer for interactive assembly planning was generated in 20 seconds. Challenges still exist in determining the level of reality required to provide an effective learning environment in the virtual world. Full representation of physical phenomena such as gravity, part clashes and the representation of standard build functions require further work to represent real physical phenomena more accurately.

Learning about probability from text and tables: Do color coding and labeling through an interactive-user interface help?

Learning from visual representations is enhanced when learners appropriately integrate corresponding visual and verbal information. This study examined the effects of two methods of promoting integration, color coding and labeling, on learning about probabilistic reasoning from a table and text. Undergraduate students (N = 98) were randomly assigned to learn about probabilistic reasoning from one of 4 computer-based lessons generated from a 2 (color coding/no color coding) by 2 (labeling/no labeling) between-subjects design. Learners added the labels or color coding at their own pace by clicking buttons in a computer-based lesson. Participants' eye movements were recorded while viewing the lesson. Labeling was beneficial for learning, but color coding was not. In addition, labeling, but not color coding, increased attention to important information in the table and time with the lesson. Both labeling and color coding increased looks between the text and corresponding information in the table. The findings provide support for the multimedia principle, and they suggest that providing labeling enhances learning about probabilistic reasoning from text and tables

The potential contributions of concept maps for learning website to assessment for learning practices

The purpose of this paper is to examine the promising contributions of the Concept Maps for Learning (CMfL) website to assessment for learning practices. The CMfL website generates concept maps from relatedness degree of concepts pairs through the Pathfinder Scaling Algorithm. This website also confirms the established principles of effective assessment for learning, for it is capable of automatically assessing students' higher order knowledge, simultaneously identifying strengths and weaknesses, immediately providing useful feedback and being user-friendly. According to the default assessment plan, students first create concept maps on a particular subject and then they are given individualized visual feedback followed by associated instructional material (e.g., videos, website links, examples, problems, etc.) based on a comparison of their concept map and a subject matter expert's map. After studying the feedback and instructional material, teachers can monitor their students' progress by having them create revised concept maps. Therefore, we claim that the CMfL website may reduce the workload of teachers as well as provide immediate and delayed feedback on the weaknesses of students in different forms such as graphical and multimedia. For the following study, we will examine whether these promising contributions to assessment for learning are valid in a variety of subjects.

Ethical reasoning through simulation: a phenomenological analysis of student experience

Background
Medical students transitioning into professional practice feel underprepared to deal with the emotional complexities of real-life ethical situations. Simulation-based learning (SBL) may provide a safe environment for students to probe the boundaries of ethical encounters. Published studies of ethics simulation have not generated sufficiently deep accounts of student experience to inform pedagogy. The aim of this study was to understand students’ lived experiences as they engaged with the emotional challenges of managing clinical ethical dilemmas within a SBL environment.

Methods
This qualitative study was underpinned by an interpretivist epistemology. Eight senior medical students participated in an interprofessional ward-based SBL activity incorporating a series of ethically challenging encounters. Each student wore digital video glasses to capture point-of-view (PoV) film footage. Students were interviewed immediately after the simulation and the PoV footage played back to them. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. An interpretative phenomenological approach, using an established template analysis approach, was used to iteratively analyse the data.

Results
Four main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) ‘Authentic on all levels?’, (2)‘Letting the emotions flow’, (3) ‘Ethical alarm bells’ and (4) ‘Voices of children and ghosts’. Students recognised many explicit ethical dilemmas during the SBL activity but had difficulty navigating more subtle ethical and professional boundaries. In emotionally complex situations, instances of moral compromise were observed (such as telling an untruth). Some participants felt unable to raise concerns or challenge unethical behaviour within the scenarios due to prior negative undergraduate experiences.

Conclusions
This study provided deep insights into medical students’ immersive and embodied experiences of ethical reasoning during an authentic SBL activity. By layering on the human dimensions of ethical decision-making, students can understand their personal responses to emotion, complexity and interprofessional working. This could assist them in framing and observing appropriate ethical and professional boundaries and help smooth the transition into clinical practice.