Adaptive curriculum sequencing (ACS) is still a challenge in the adaptive learning field. ACS is a NP-hard problem especially considering the several constraints of the student and the learning material when selecting a sequence from repositories where several sequences could be chosen. Therefore, this has stimulated several researchers to use evolutionary approaches in the search for satisfactory solutions. This work explores the use of an adaptation of the prey-predator algorithm for the ACS problem. Pedagogical experiments with a real student dataset and convergence experiments with a synthetic dataset have shown that the proposed solution is suitable for the problem, although it is a solution not yet explored in the adaptive learning literature.
This case study examines the evolution of R&D knowledge management at Japan's business equipment maker Fuji Xerox, from the sashimi system, a Japanese origin of concurrent engineering, to its successor Zen-in system, which is composed mainly of a real high-tech discussion room equipped with databases that provide technical information and two 70-inch displays that shows virtual but real-size, three-dimensional graphic models. We found that Fuji Xerox has chosen the "hybridization strategy" that mixes human-based and IT-based knowledge-sharing techniques. We also argue that concurrent engineering provides not only efficiency benefits but also positive effects on group and organizational creativity. Finally we present a conceptual framework of "how concurrent engineering works;" i.e., uncertainty and diversity necessitate concurrency which produces such benefits as efficiency and creativity, and which in turn realizes product integrity.
Search as Learning (SaL) states that search engines must support users through ways to learn during the search process. Previous studies were responsible to propose SaL as a research agenda, carrying different perspectives of investigation and research challenges to be overcome. This paper presents an overview of this research area from an analysis of the publications. We selected 62 papers in which we sought to identify the main authors, the timeline of publications and the main research topics. We believe this research is able to support the development of SaL as a research area by stimulating new proposals.Resumo. A Busca como um Processo de Aprendizagem (BPA) afirma que os mecanismos de buscas devem oferecer suporte aos usuários com meios para aprender durante este processo. Os estudos anteriores foram responsáveis por propor BPA como uma agenda de pesquisa, trazendo perspectivas de investigação e desafios a serem superados. Este artigo apresenta uma visão geral destaárea de pesquisa a partir de uma análise das publicações. Foram selecionados 62 trabalhos onde nós buscamos identificar os principais autores, a linha do tempo de publicações e os principais tópicos de pesquisa. Nós acreditamos que esta pesquisaé capaz de auxiliar no desenvolvimento de BPA como umaárea de pesquisa, estimulando novas propostas.
In the last decade, there has been increasing pressure on academic laboratories to produce practical results. The last 10 years also have seen a growing interest in knowledge management, a management discipline believed to enhance organizations' innovative capability by the sharing and creation of knowledge. While most knowledge management cases refer to the business setting, we believe that the introduction of these practices can also enhance knowledge creation and knowledge sharing within and among research units. This paper focuses on a pilot study being conducted at a Japanese public graduate university -JAIST -under a Center of Excellence (COE) program that was established to bring the performance of research laboratories up to a world class level in productivity by applying the theories and tools of knowledge science. This study is a cooperative effort between the School of Knowledge Science, doing research on knowledge management and systems, and two research laboratories in the School of Materials Science, doing basic and applied research on materials science. The goal of this project is to enhance materials science students' capabilities so that they become successful creators of new scientific knowledge. A group of seven graduate research students volunteered for the study. As one of the first steps, we introduced a formal and periodic written reporting system that motivates students to think strategically about their experiments, helps them to improve their communications skills, and enables students to self-evaluate their skills and supervisors to evaluate the students' skills as well as monitor their progress and developments in a formalized way. Since the project is relatively new, these preliminary results are associated with a generalized awareness and participation of the students in the project. However, we are expecting to obtain more concrete results, that is, quantifiable improvements in scientific production, in the near future.
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