Inclusió de les TIC en el portafoli de l'estudiant per a l'ensenyament dels mètodes numèrics

La finalitat d’aquest projecte ha estat la millora de la formació global dels estudiants. Concretament, mitjançant la creació d’un portafolis que contingui les diferents activitats que ha realitzat l’estudiant al llarg del curs es pretén potenciar tant les competències específiques com les competències transversals dels estudiants. Concretament, aquest objectiu s'ha assolit mitjançant el disseny i el desenvolupament de: 1. nou material docent corresponent a la presentació dels continguts de l’assignatura (apunts, presentacions, animacions,... ) amb el que s'ha pretès promoure el treball individual i la capacitat d’autoaprenentatge dels estudiants. 2. sesions dirigits que es realitzen en aules informàtiques amb el que s'ha volgut incrementar la motivació i desenvolupar un esperit crític dels estudiants 3. treballs tutelats que els estudiants realitzaran en grups, posteriorments pesentaran a la resta de companys i que finalment condueixen a la redacció d’un informe final. D'aquesta manera s'ha pretès desenvolupar les competències transversals dels estudiants

Tensión Creativa aplicada al Análisis de Competencias a Alumnos de Ingeniería

This article reflects the analysis of personal and social competences through the study and analysis of creative tensión in engineering students, using a computer application called Cycloid. The main objective was to compare the students' creative tensión by asigning them the task of being the project leader of a given project: their own university major. The process consisted of evaluating, through special surveys, a group of students to know the current situation of competences, using fuzzy logic analysis. From this self-knowledge, provided by the survey, students can know their strong and weak characteristics regarding their study habits. Results showed that tolerance to stress and to language courses are the weaker points. This application is useful for the design of study strategies that students themselves can do to better face their courses

Juego educativo enfocado al desarrollo de habilidades para aprender a modelar requerimientos con artefactos UML

El siguiente trabajo describe los resultados de una experiencia práctica con un juego serio llamado: 'Modela', dirigido tanto a alumnos de Ingeniería de Software como a los profesores que trabajen en esa área, con la intención que practiquen cómo modelar requerimientos con casos de uso y el modelo correcto de un diagrama de caso de uso.

Síntese de biodiesel: uma proposta contextualizada de experimento para laboratório de química geral

The contextualized understanding of concepts in Chemistry by students from other areas is a challenging task. In this experiment, the synthesis of biodiesel is done by base catalyzed transesterification of refined soy oil with methanol at room temperature and common glassware found in any chemistry laboratory. The proposal permits introducing several concepts, such as that of emulsion, viscosity and catalysis to illustrate an activity based on an actual problem. In this didactic approach, some common problems of biodiesel production, such as soap formation and phase separation, are introduced into the procedure in order to raise questions and motivate the students to participate in the experimental work and stimulate reflections about critical aspects of biodiesel production. This experiment was carried out in the first semester of 2006, in experimental general chemistry taken by physics and agricultural, civil and chemical engineering students of UNICAMP.

Enabling constructive alignment in programming instruction

In this thesis, simple methods have been sought to lower the teacher’s threshold to start to apply constructive alignment in instruction. From the phases of the instructional process, aspects that can be improved with little effort by the teacher have been identified. Teachers have been interviewed in order to find out what students actually learn in computer science courses. A quantitative analysis of the structured interviews showed that in addition to subject specific skills and knowledge, students learn many other skills that should be mentioned in the learning outcomes of the course. The students’ background, such as their prior knowledge, learning style and culture, affects how they learn in a course. A survey was conducted to map the learning styles of computer science students and to see if their cultural background affected their learning style. A statistical analysis of the data indicated that computer science students are different learners than engineering students in general and that there is a connection between the student’s culture and learning style. In this thesis, a simple self-assessment scale that is based on Bloom’s revised taxonomy has been developed. A statistical analysis of the test results indicates that in general the scale is quite reliable, but single students still slightly overestimate or under-estimate their knowledge levels. For students, being able to follow their own progress is motivating, and for a teacher, self-assessment results give information about how the class is proceeding and what the level of the students’ knowledge is.

Ammattikorkeakoulu innovatiivisena oppimisyhteisönä

Ammattikorkeakoulut ovat osa suomalaista innovaatiojärjestelmää. Niiden tärkeimpiä tuotteita ovat laadukkaat tutkinnot, joilla tuotetaan Suomen kilpailukyvyn kannalta olennaista osaavaa työvoimaa. Koulutusinnovaatioiden avulla ammattikorkeakoulut voivat parantaa opetuksen ja oppimisen laatua ja edistää opiskelijoiden parempaa osaamista. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin Kymenlaakson ammattikorkeakoulua innovatiivisena oppimisyhteisönä Hokkasen (2001) hahmotteleman innovatiivisen oppimisyhteisön profiilitekijöiden mukaisesti. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, millainen innovatiivinen oppimisyhteisö KyAMK:ssa toteutuu opettajien kokemana, ja miten innovatiivisen oppimisyhteisön piirteitä voitaisiin edistää mainitussa organisaatiossa. Aineisto kerättiin haastattelemalla kymmentä KyAMK:n Tekniikan ja liikenteen toimialan opettajaa. Tulokset osoittivat Kymenlaakson ammattikorkeakoulun johdon sallivan innovatiiviset koulutuksen kehittämiseen tähtäävät toimet, mutta johto ei proaktiivisesti ohjannut ja kannustanut niihin. Ammattikorkeakouluopettajien pedagogisen autonomian todettiin olevan suurta. Tästä huolimatta kaivattiin yhteisöllisyyteen tukevia toimintamalleja, joiden avulla organisaatiossa oleva monialaisen työyhteisön innovaatiopotentiaali voitaisiin valjastaa opetuksen kehittämiseen ja organisaatiolta puuttuvan toiminnan kokonaiskuvan ja -ymmärryksen kehittämiseen. Osana yhteisöllisyyden kehittämistä aineistosta nousi esiin kehittämisehdotuksena pitkäjänteisemmän verkostoitumisen toteuttaminen niin organisaation sisällä kuin ulkopuolisten sidosryhmien kanssa.

The Role of Non-Coercive Influence Tactics in Online Marketing

This thesis examines the effectiveness of non-coercive influence tactics in the context of consumer online behaviour. The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive understanding of consumer online behaviour and the role of information types in affecting the consumer’s cognitive responses and behavioural outcomes. The theoretical part of the study examines the academic literature on consumer online behaviour and influence tactics used both in traditional buyer/seller relationships as well as in relationships mediated by online technologies. The empirical part of the study is carried out with four experiments that utilise non-coercive influence tactics to affect online consumer behaviour. The consumers included in this study are 18-28 year-old structural and civil engineering students in Finland, United Kingdom, United States and India. The findings suggest that non-coercive influence tactics are applicable in the online marketing context and generate cognitive responses of site awareness, site involvement and exploratory behaviour which subsequently results in behavioural outcomes of compliance, eWOM and site abandonment.

Opiskelumotivaation selvitystyö sähkötekniikan opinnoissa Lappeenrannan teknillisessä yliopistossa

Opiskelumotivaatio on monimutkainen käsite, johon vaikuttavat sekä sisäiset että ulkoiset tekijät. Motivaatiota voidaan tarkastella useasta eri näkökulmasta. Työn tarkoituksena on selvittää sähkötekniikan opiskelijoiden motivaation tilanne. Myös opetuksen käytännön tekijöiden vaikutus opiskeluun selvitetään. Työ toteutettiin määrällisenä kyselytutkimuksena; kysely lähetettiin sähkötekniikan opiskelijoille syksyllä 2014. Tuloksia verrattiin lisäksi muihin aihetta käsitteleviin tutkimuksiin. Tutkimuksessa havaittiin sähkötekniikan opiskelijoiden motivaation olevan hyvää tasoa. Sähkötekniikan opetus on yhteisöllistä ja opetushenkilökunta helposti lähestyttävää. Kyselyn vastauksista löytyi joitakin kursseja, joiden suorittaminen on opiskelijoille epämieluisaa. Vastaavasti tietyt kurssit ovat suosittuja suoritustapansa ja arvostelunsa takia. Opiskelumotivaation kannalta havaittiin palautteen ja opintojen tärkeyden kokemisen olevan merkittäviä tekijöitä. Sähkötekniikan opetus vaikuttaisi olevan hieman erilaista kuin muu opetus Lappeenrannan teknillisessä yliopistossa. Käytännön asioiden ja työelämän taitojen opetusta olisi lisättävä.

Utilising student profiles in mathematics course arrangements

This thesis develops a method for identifying students struggling in their mathematical studies at an early stage. It helps in directing support to students needing and benefiting from it the most. Thus, frustration felt by weaker students may decrease and therefore, hopefully, also drop outs of potential engineering students. The research concentrates on a combination of personality and intelligence aspects. Personality aspects gave information on conation and motivation for learning. This part was studied from the perspective of motivation and self-regulation. Intelligence aspects gave information on declarative and procedural knowledge: what had been taught and what was actually mastered. Students answered surveys on motivation and self-regulation in 2010 and 2011. Based on their answers, background information, results in the proficiency test, and grades in the first mathematics course, profiles describing the students were formed. In the following years, the profiles were updated with new information obtained each year. The profiles used to identify struggling students combine personality (motivation, selfregulation, and self-efficacy) and intelligence (declarative and procedural knowledge) aspects at the beginning of their studies. Identifying students in need of extra support is a good start, but methods for providing support must be found. This thesis also studies how this support could be taken into account in course arrangements. The methods used include, for example, languaging and scaffolding, and continuous feedback. The analysis revealed that allocating resources based on the predicted progress does not increase costs or lower the results of better students. Instead, it will help weaker students obtain passing grades.

Preparadurías estudiantiles como proceso de aprendizaje colaborativo entre estudiantes de ingeniería de la UNEXPO, Vicerectorado de Puerto Ordaz

Se trata de una investigación que se realizó en la Universidad Nacional Experimental Politécnica "Antonio José de Sucre" (UNEXPO), Vicerrectorado Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela, referida al estudio e intervención educativa en el programa de preparadurías (mecanismo de asesoramiento académico entre estudiantes de ingeniería), en el ámbito de matemática I (asignatura crítica), que desarrolló procesos participativos de enseñanza-aprendizaje en aula fundamentados en una metodología colaborativa, de cara a la promoción de un cambio educativo. La investigación tiene como propósito promover la mejora de los procesos de enseñanza aprendizaje que se desarrollan en este programa, facilitando la participación de los preparadores en un proceso de intervención. Las acciones que orientaron la intervención en el aula, se fundamentan en una concepción constructivista y sociocultural de los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje, que otorgan un papel preponderante a la actividad del alumno mediada por factores de su contexto educativo. Desde el punto de vista metodológico, estamos frente a un tipo de investigación interpretativa, sustentada operacionalmente por la metodología cualitativa. Para llevarla a cabo, se definieron tres fases interconectadas en el proceso investigativo: descriptiva, de intervención y valoración; destacando que la fase intervención en el aula, se inspiró en la investigación-acción, como mecanismo indagatorio y propulsor de la transformación en la práctica. En estas fases, fue predominante la identificación de informantes clave de acuerdo a momentos y ámbitos de actuación y combinaciones que relacionaban técnicas narrativas como los grupos de discusión, entrevistas cualitativas y la observación, entre otras. Los resultados más resaltantes, tienden a realizar una caracterización exhaustiva de las preparadurías, describir de forma pormenorizada la experiencia vivida con los preparadores, la cual trata de aportar una estrategia pedagógica en matemática I, traducida en el aprovechamiento de las relaciones simétricas entre alumnos en ambientes colaborativos. La investigación permite a la UNEXPO, otras universidades y a la comunidad educativa, evaluar la posibilidades que ofrece una propuesta innovadora de enseñanza-aprendizaje en matemática I, que puede orientar las acciones pedagógicas en una de las asignaturas con más bajo porcentaje de promoción; combinando la colaboración, participación; explorando y aprovechando las relaciones entre iguales en ambientes alternativos de aprendizaje como las preparadurías.

A perspective on chaos theory: Potential applications to intelligent buildings

Mathematical models have been vitally important in the development of technologies in building engineering. A literature review identifies that linear models are the most widely used building simulation models. The advent of intelligent buildings has added new challenges in the application of the existing models as an intelligent building requires learning and self-adjusting capabilities based on environmental and occupants' factors. It is therefore argued that the linearity is an impropriate basis for any model of either complex building systems or occupant behaviours for control or whatever purpose. Chaos and complexity theory reflects nonlinear dynamic properties of the intelligent systems excised by occupants and environment and has been used widely in modelling various engineering, natural and social systems. It is proposed that chaos and complexity theory be applied to study intelligent buildings. This paper gives a brief description of chaos and complexity theory and presents its current positioning, recent developments in building engineering research and future potential applications to intelligent building studies, which provides a bridge between chaos and complexity theory and intelligent building research.