Problems and challenges of using randomized automatically evaluating geometric construction problems in Moodle LMS

Computer-based concept mapping combined with learning management system use: An explorative study under the self- and collaborative-mode

Extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma (EFAST) examinations are routinely performed by emergency physicians and general surgeons as an integral part of trauma care. Although guidelines for competency in the EFAST examination exist, tools to assess competency are lacking. Our goal was to develop and validate a Web-based competency assessment tool to evaluate providers who perform the EFAST examination. A multiple-choice test regarding the performance and interpretation of the EFAST examination was developed following National Board of Medical Examiner guidelines. Five emergency physician experts with fellowship training in emergency ultrasound established face and content validity. The test was administered to emergency medicine residents and ultrasound fellows. Concurrent validity was evaluated by assessing the correlation of scores on our test with guidelines set by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) for emergency ultrasound. Scores were analyzed, and statistical analysis was performed. Sixty-three emergency medicine residents and 2 ultrasound fellows from 2 residency programs completed the assessment tool. Examinees who met ACEP guidelines scored significantly higher than those who had not: 70.4% (95% confidence interval, 67.3%-73.4%) versus 48.3% (43.2%-53.5%). Evaluation of scores showed a significant correlation between an increased level of training, participation in an ultrasound rotation, and the number of EFAST and total ultrasound examinations performed with higher test scores. However, overall test scores were lower than initially anticipated. Use of this assessment tool for interpretation of EFAST images showed face and content validity. Score trends showed a significant correlation with existing ACEP guidelines, ultrasound experience, and the training level. Scores continued to improve with experience beyond ACEP recommended guidelines.

With the growing significance of technology-based education and the advancements in Computer Algebra and Dynamic Geometry systems, automated tools for interactive learning have attracted significant attention. Nonetheless, the scarcity of interactive open-source online tools for geometric construction problems that offer feedback has hindered their wider implementation within the educational system. The primary reason for this absence is that geometric construction problems necessitate a constructed object as a solution rather than a numerical one. This feature renders the evaluation of geometric construction problems to be particularly challenging for machine evaluation (solutions cannot be copied into answer boxes) and time-consuming for teacher evaluation. In this work, the focus will be on triangle construction problems within the broader topic of geometric constructions. Emphasis will be placed on methods for creating interactive triangle construction applets in the widely popular GeoGebra software. The necessary steps will be outlined to enable mathematics teachers to create interactive GeoGebra applets with automatic verification that offer feedback for a diverse range of triangle construction problems.

Purpose: This study aims to examine the implementation of technology in educational assessments, specifically using the Learning Management System (LMS) Moodle at SMK Brantas Karangkates. Traditional paper-based tests limit multimedia integration and efficient scoring, whereas online exams offer a more effective and streamlined alternative for learning evaluations. Method: The research focuses on Moodle’s implementation process, detailing steps like preparing questions, setting up quiz features, conducting exams, and managing automated scoring. Observational data and school records were used to analyze Moodle's application. Practical Applications: Using LMS Moodle, with its multimedia and automated grading capabilities, enhances exam efficiency, accessibility, and result management. This practical approach supports schools in modernizing their assessment processes. Conclusion: SMK Brantas Karangkates has effectively used Moodle for online exams over the past five years, showing significant improvements in assessment efficiency. This study illustrates how e-learning platforms like Moodle can support schools in adapting to technological changes in education.

This study examined the use of Advancity Learning Management Systems (ALMS) and the Moodle Learning Management Systems (LMS) in learning settings, as well as online exams, within the framework of Transactional Distance Theory. With 146 college students (nfemale = 102, nmale = 44) as voluntary participants, data was gathered through an online questionnaire. A time series design was used for two different LMS sessions, and participants who voluntarily participated in ALMS and Moodle LMS sessions were matched. The findings revealed that while Moodle and ALMS both receive relatively similar assessment ratings for online exams, Moodle scored better in terms of learning setting. When factors of the Learning Management Systems Evaluation Scale (LMSES) based on Transactional Distance Theory were compared, the dialogue and autonomy factors were significantly higher for Moodle LMS than for ALMS. When online exams in the LMS were compared, there was no significant difference between ALMS and Moodle LMS, and for both LMS, the reliability factor was a determinant indicator than the other factors. As a result, in assessing and using an LMS, choices should be based on how well the LMS characteristics address an institution’s demands.

BackgroundAbout 30% of people over 65 are subject to at least one unintentional fall a year. Fall prevention protocols and interventions can decrease the number of falls. To be effective, a prevention strategy requires a prior step to evaluate the fall risk of the subjects. Despite extensive research, existing assessment tools for fall risk have been insufficient for predicting falls.ObjectiveThe goal of this study is to present a novel web-based fall-risk assessment tool (FRAT-up) and to evaluate its accuracy in predicting falls, within a context of community-dwelling persons aged 65 and up.MethodsFRAT-up is based on the assumption that a subject’s fall risk is given by the contribution of their exposure to each of the known fall-risk factors. Many scientific studies have investigated the relationship between falls and risk factors. The majority of these studies adopted statistical approaches, usually providing quantitative information such as odds ratios. FRAT-up exploits these numerical results to compute how each single factor contributes to the overall fall risk. FRAT-up is based on a formal ontology that enlists a number of known risk factors, together with quantitative findings in terms of odds ratios. From such information, an automatic algorithm generates a rule-based probabilistic logic program, that is, a set of rules for each risk factor. The rule-based program takes the health profile of the subject (in terms of exposure to the risk factors) and computes the fall risk. A Web-based interface allows users to input health profiles and to visualize the risk assessment for the given subject. FRAT-up has been evaluated on the InCHIANTI Study dataset, a representative population-based study of older persons living in the Chianti area (Tuscany, Italy). We compared reported falls with predicted ones and computed performance indicators.ResultsThe obtained area under curve of the receiver operating characteristic was 0.642 (95% CI 0.614-0.669), while the Brier score was 0.174. The Hosmer-Lemeshow test indicated statistical significance of miscalibration.ConclusionsFRAT-up is a web-based tool for evaluating the fall risk of people aged 65 or up living in the community. Validation results of fall risks computed by FRAT-up show that its performance is comparable to externally validated state-of-the-art tools. A prototype is freely available through a web-based interface.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01331512 (The InChianti Follow-Up Study); http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT01331512 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6UDrrRuaR).

Digital technologies are an enabler for the enhancement of the quality of learning and teaching. By incorporating ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) in the learning process (and therefore achieving blended learning), HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) have the potential to complete the shift from the ,,old way" of teaching and learning (based on the mere transmission of information) to the development of a partnership between the student and teacher that can have a significant impact on the learning and teaching experience overall. Therefore, in order to augment academic performance and to withstand the challenges of an increasingly competitive environment, the Romanian HEIs have concentrated their efforts to develop or configure e-learning platforms that enable the implementation of the blended learning concept. In our previous research we identified that in the Romanian higher educational system, Moodle LMS (Learning Management System) or VLE (Virtual Learning environment) is frequently chosen as the solution for offering e-learning services (56,81% of the Romanian HEIs, both public and private, which have implemented an e-learning system have adopted Moodle LMS). In this paper we will present the case of the University Of Economic Studies Of Bucharest that offers new and improved services for its students by implementing an e-learning platform available as online.ase.ro. The e-learning platform implemented by the University Of Economic Studies Of Bucharest is the Moodle LMS. We will present which were the challenges of this project (for example, the modality in which Moodle LMS was integrated with the university information system - SIMUR) and we will highlight the solutions that have been adopted to overcome them.

Agile software development approaches have emerged to overcome the inherent challenges of the traditional software development methodologies. With that in mind, they offer a set of simple yet effective practices based on the values and supporting principles of the Agile Manifesto. Today, more and more organizations are practicing Agile but transitioning to Agile is not as straightforward as it might seem. The benefits afforded by the agile values, principles and practices are not fully obtained and adapters struggle to become more mature; i.e. increase their Agility. For, adapters to address this problem, agility assessments have been designed to be aware of the situation of their transition and make sure that they are heading in the right direction. However, these assessments still require significant amount of time and effort to apply. To overcome this problem, we have developed a web-based agility assessment tool which is a part of an integrated agility assessment approach. The approach consists of a structured and comprehensive agility assessment model (AgilityMod), an exemplar agility assessment process and a web based agility assessment tool (AssessAgility). This research focuses on the final component of the approach: AssessAgility tool and presents a multiple case study that was conducted to evaluate tool's capabilities in terms of providing guidance, automation and reducing the effort spent on the assessments.

BackgroundThe appropriate management of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) depends on accurate interpretation of the 12-lead ECG by paramedics. Computer interpretation messages on ECGs are often provided, but...

The theory of commutative fields — and the theory of polynomials, which is closely linked to it — derive directly from what constituted, until the middle of the XIXth century the principal object of classical Algebra: the solution of algebraic equations, and geometric construction problems which are equivalent to that.

Many higher education institutions nowadays are equipped with Learning Management Systems (LMS) to provide rich online learning solutions and utilize its functions and capabilities to improve the learning practices. The current study aims to gain instructors' perspective of LMS, investigate the use of its functions, and identify the barriers that may influence LMS utilization at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST). This research aims to examine current practices, opinions, and challenges that help academicians and system developers contribute to better learning practices and academic achievement. The study used a quantitative method that included a sample of 58 faculty members. Findings obtained from the questionnaire indicated that instructors were generally comfortable and had positive perceptions about LMS Moodle. The results revealed that LMS's administrative functions, such as files and announcements, are widely used compared to the advanced interactive learning activities. Moreover, LMS's use on mobile devices is infrequent, and more emphasis must be placed on using LMS friendly user interfaces that can enable all tools and functions to use LMS.

Solution assessment is a critical first-step in understanding and measuring the business process efficiency enabled by an integrated solution package. However, assessing the effectiveness of any solution is usually a very expensive and timeconsuming task which involves lots of domain knowledge, collecting and understanding the specific customer operational context, defining validation scenarios and estimating the expected performance and operational cost. This paper presents an intelligent web-based tool that can rapidly assess any given solution package for production publishing workflows via a simulation engine and create a report for various estimated performance metrics (e.g. throughput, turnaround time, resource utilization) and operational cost. By integrating the digital publishing workflow ontology and an activity based costing model with a Petri-net based workflow simulation engine, this web-based tool allows users to quickly evaluate any potential digital publishing solutions side-by-side within their desired operational contexts, and provides a low-cost and rapid assessment for organizations before committing any purchase. This tool also benefits the solution providers to shorten the sales cycles, establishing a trustworthy customer relationship and supplement the professional assessment services with a proven quantitative simulation and estimation technology.

"eLCA" is a European Commission financed project aimed at realising “On line green tools and services for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)”. Knowledge and use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) by SMEs are strategic to introduce the Integrated Product Policy (IPP) in Europe, but methodology simplification is needed. LCA requires a large amount of validated general and sector specific data. Since their availability and cost can be insuperable barriers for SMEs, pre-elaborated data/meta-data, use of standards and low cost solutions are required. Within the framework of the eLCA project an LCA software - eVerdEE - based on a simplified methodology and specialised for SMEs has been developed. eVerdEE is a web-based tool with some innovative features. Its main feature is the adaptation of ISO 14040 requirements to offer easy-to-handle functions with solid scientific bases. Complex methodological problems, such as the system boundaries definition, the data quality estimation and documentation, the choice of impact categories, are simplified according to the SMEs’ needs. Predefined "Goal and Scope definition" and "Inventory" forms, a user-friendly and well structured procedure are time and cost-effective. The tool is supported by a database containing pre-elaborated environmental indicators of substances and processes for different impact categories. The impact assessment is calculated automatically by using the user’s input and the database values. The results have different levels of interpretation in order to identify the life cycle critical points and the improvement options. The use of a target plot allows the direct comparison of different design alternatives.

The pedagogical expressiveness of designed courses using Learning Management Systems (LMS) is highly dependent on the teachers' expertise about the use of the LMS at their disposal. The LMS semantics has to be raised in order to enhance the pedagogical expressiveness of the produced models. This paper deals with the proposition of a specific LMS-centered approach for abstracting the LMS low-level arameterizations and turning them into higher-level pedagogical building blocks. We choose to present and illustrate our propositions about the Moodle LMS.

The pedagogical expressiveness of designed courses using Learning Management Systems (LMS) is highly dependent on the teachers’ expertise about how to use the LMS at their disposal. The GraphiT project aims to help teachers in focusing on the specification of pedagogically sound learning scenarios that can be technically executable for automatically setting-up the LMS. We propose to provide teachers with LMS-specific instructional design languages and editors. The LMS semantics has to be raised in order to enrich the pedagogical expressiveness of the produced models. This paper deals with the proposition of a specific LMS-centered approach for abstracting the LMS low-level parameterizations and turning them into higher-level pedagogical building blocks. We choose to present and illustrate our propositions about the Moodle LMS. We focus on the first abstraction level. It consists in identifying some pedagogical activities according to recurrent uses designers make by handling the Moodle activities.