Open Courses Research Articles

Exploration of the Parameter Space of an Ion Channel Kinetic Model by a Markov-Chain-Based Methodology.

In this work, we propose a methodology based on Monte Carlo Markov chains to explore the parameter space of kinetic models for ion channels. The methodology allows the detection of potential parameter sets of a model that are compatible with experimentally obtained whole-cell currents, which could remain hidden when methods focus on obtaining the parameters that provide the best fit. To show its implementation and utility, we considered a four-state kinetic model proposed in the literature to describe the activation of the voltage-gated proton channel (Hv1), Biophysical Journal, 2014, 107, 1564. In that work, a set of values for the rate transitions that describe the channel kinetics at different intracellular H+ concentration (pHi) were obtained by the Simplex method. With our approach, we find that, in fact, there is more than one parameter set for each pHi, which renders the same open probability temporal course within the experimental error margin for all of the considered voltages. The large differences that we obtained for the values of some rate constants among the different solutions show that there is more than one possible interpretation of this channel behavior as a function of pHi. We also simulated a proposed new experimental condition where it is possible to observe that different sets of parameters yield different results. Our study highlights the importance of a comprehensive analysis of parameter space in kinetic models and the utility of the proposed methodology for finding potential solutions.

The effect of learning strategies adopted in K12 schools on student learning in massive open online courses

AbstractBackgroundGiven students' lack of self‐directed learning skills and the growing concern about implementing massive online open courses (MOOCs) in K12 education, learning strategies are needed to facilitate MOOC learning. Many studies have provided different strategies for effective learning in MOOCs. However, there is still limited research to confirm whether these strategies effectively support MOOC learning when deployed by secondary schools, which are not MOOC developers.ObjectivesThis mixed‐method study examines the provision of different learning strategies, including a learning guide, an academic mentoring programme, a training workshop, and a reimbursement scheme, and investigates the impact of these strategies on student learning in MOOCs.MethodsThe study uses two data sources: (1) surveys with 40 participants and (2) semi‐structured interviews with 12 participants. The quantitative data were analysed with descriptive statistics and Fisher's exact test, and the qualitative data were analysed with thematic analysis.Results and ConclusionThe findings indicate that MOOC learners had positive attitudes towards the overall school support, with mentoring enjoying great popularity amongst the students. In terms of the effectiveness of the school support, the mentoring programme and reimbursement scheme were more effective than the university training and learning guide. The paper discusses the implications for researchers and educators.

RecoveryAcademies, we show how we do it in Fanlders and Brussels!

A Recovery Academy (RA) provides an open course offer on various themes related to recovery and resilience.
 The offer is open to any citizen with a desire to learn around their mental recovery, their loved ones (neighbor, family, caregiver) are welcome as well.
 The offer is unique, and stands for co-creation at all its levels!
 - People with lived experience and a caregiver, teach a course together.
 - They run the academy in co-creation.
 - Partners in a region do subscribe the key-principles of an Recovery Academy and work together based on the principle of susidiarity.
 Based on our course "yourself and recovery," we show in
 the workshop, how we work in a course around the themes of: Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning, Making choices and dealing with life's difficulties.
 The workshop will be given by a professional and a PEER worker, it will be a moment of learning together and sharing experiences.
 We will briefly discuss the critical success factors of an RA and address the questions of the participants.
 

Self-Study of the MOOC English Pronunciation in a Global World: Metaphonetic Awareness and English Accent Variation

This paper reports on a study in which Polish first-year university students of English, self-studied the massive open and online course (henceforth MOOC) entitled “Pronunciation in a Global World” to gain some knowledge on the fundamentals of phonetics (the notion of comprehensibility, nativeness and identity; vowels, consonants and selected suprasegmentals) and English accent variation. Its two main goals are: firstly, to examine the MOOC’s impact on the participants’ understanding of basic phonetic concepts and, secondly, to obtain the users’ assessment of this MOOC’s attractiveness and usefulness.In general, the results do not give evidence for the positive influence of the MOOC course on the students’ meta-awareness of English phonetics, since there are statistically significant differences in only three of sixty-eight questions between the experimental and control group. Nevertheless, many informants regard the course as useful (72%) and attractive (49%).Although the results do not support the hypothesis of the MOOC’s beneficial role in facilitating the understanding of English phonetics our stand is that this online training could complement classroom teaching as a form of blended learning.

Open self-paced introductory course in nuclear engineering – How to guarantee student learning

Ease of access to various free educational resources on the internet has often the disadvantage of resulting in scattered and fragmented knowledge and skills. Students “pick and choose” what they believe to be relevant for their learning but lack the necessary overview of the field to select those resources adequately and properly. This also applies to nuclear engineering, for which educational materials can be found on the web. Although some Massive Open Online Courses exist in this area, access to those often requires registration, or those courses are given during limited times. Following the Open Educational Resources initiative, there was thus a need to develop educational materials that are truly open and freely accessible to all, while guaranteeing student learning. This paper reports on efforts along those lines, which resulted in the planning, development, implementation and offering of three self-paced open course modules in nuclear engineering. Through a careful course design and use of the various features of a specific educator-to-educator Learning Management System, the students are guided through highly structured course materials capitalizing on a diversity of activities proposed to the students. Through self-assessment competence tests, the students can measure their mastery of the field, ultimately resulting in the delivery of a certificate of successful completion of the modules. This paper also presents, from a teacher’s perspective, some lessons learnt that could benefit other teachers interested in embarking on similar endeavours.

Identifying opportunities to innovate project management education in the digital age

This paper focuses on innovative learning methods (serious games, simulation games, virtual and augmented reality, the learning-by-doing concept, and Massive Online Open Courses) used in project management education. The use of these learning methods in project management education is crucial, as this subject needs to be practiced in real life. This paper aims to examine the current state of research in this area to determine which learning methods are most commonly used in project management education, what impact they have on the ability to learn, and whether these methods are beginning to transfer to the online environment. To this end, a systematic literature review was conducted in the Web of Science database, which resulted in 53 papers. The results show that game-based learning is the most frequently researched method (43 times). The impact of the analysed methods on the ability to learn was found to have been confirmed 23 times, especially in game-based learning research (18 times). On the other hand, the online environment is not predominant, and these methods are mostly taught on-site (28 times).

Research on the online open course of ancient literature in the “Internet+” era

This paper firstly introduced the traditional classroom teaching mode, proposed the massive open online courses (MOOC) online teaching platform, and combined it with the traditional teaching mode for the teaching of ancient literature course. In case study, 200 students from Ningbo University of Finance and Economics were divided into a control class and an experimental class. The control class was taught by the traditional mode, while the experimental class was taught by the new mode combining traditional with MOOC. The final results showed that there was little difference in the grade distributions of the control and experimental classes before the respective instruction (the P value greater than 0.05); after the instruction the students’ ancient literature grades in the experimental class improved significantly (the P value less than 0.05), while the control class almost had no change (the P value greater than 0.05). The gap in the ancient literature grade between the control and experimental class students was significant (the P value less than 0.05).

Research and practice of credit-based cross-school study models for Japanese language majors

The National Standards for Teaching Quality in Foreign Languages and Literature states that foreign language majors are an essential part of China's higher education in the humanities and social sciences. Each university needs to formulate reasonable training objectives based on its own educational practices and talent development goals. Additionally, the Guidelines for Teaching in Foreign Languages and Literature Majors issued in recent years put forth various competencies that Japanese language majors should possess, including Japanese language proficiency, information technology application skills, self-directed learning abilities, and practical skills. In light of these guidelines and the policy of improving the credit recognition system for online open courses, promoting the mutual recognition of credits, and advancing the construction and sharing of high-quality resources, Liaoning Province has been developing high-quality teaching resources and collaborative commissioned projects, continually deepening the reform of higher education teaching. This paper takes cross-school credit-based study in Japanese language majors as an example, summarizing the current credit teaching model, analyzing the issues that have arisen during practical implementation, and providing recommendations for the reform of teaching in Japanese language majors' high-quality resource construction and sharing projects.

E-TRAINEE: OPEN E-LEARNING COURSE ON TIME SERIES ANALYSIS IN REMOTE SENSING

Abstract. Time series (TS) analysis has always been an important topic in Remote Sensing (RS). Open access to archives of Earth Observation missions, periodically acquired nation-wide aerial imagery and LiDAR point clouds, and various research datasets, together with open tools for TS data processing, have brought new possibilities in RS research but also challenges in education. The topic of TS analysis in RS has become an essential part of MSc curricula in geoinformatics, geography, and related fields. Open learning materials systematically addressing the issue of TS at the master's level are rare and their development is time and resource demanding. Thus, based on previous collaboration, the four research groups from Charles University, Heidelberg University, University of Innsbruck, and University of Warsaw joint their specific expertise and developed an open E-learning course on Time Series Analysis in RS for Understanding Human-Environment Interactions (E-TRAINEE). The course consists of four Modules covering the topics of TS from general approaches (M1) to specific methods of processing TS of satellite multispectral images (M2), 3D/4D point clouds (M3), and aerial image and laboratory spectroscopy (M4). Theoretical parts are supported with exercises/tutorials and case studies based on research activities of the involved teams. The course is accessible via a web site and is published under the CC-BY SA 4.0 license. The primary target group are MSc and PhD students of geoinformatics and geography, but it is also relevant to students of environmental studies, ecology, or geology, as well as potential users from the public and private sectors dealing with applications of RS.

Applying andragogy for integrating a MOOC into a formal online learning experience in computer engineering

In this paper, we present the results of a research experience of implementing andragogy in a learning environment designed to better meet the needs of adult learners studying part-time at a distance university. The learning environment was composed of a learning experience on a formal distance university online course that has been enriched with a non-formal component based on students' participation in a Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) related to the same topic. The non-formal experience was designed to consolidate the learning of specific content that involved difficult concepts and foster collaborative skills. The university online course is in the field of computer science and human-computer interaction. The instructional design, including the course assignments, has been guided by Knowles’ principles of andragogy. Results from the data analysis of five years of academic results and student satisfaction has helped to understand the learning experience from including a MOOC in adult distance formal learning.

Study On Application of Open Online Psychological Courses to Mental Health Education of College Students

The mental health of college students is a growing concern, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. This thesis investigates the role of open online psychological courses in addressing the mental health challenges confronted by college students. Using the most recent National Mental Health Development Report (2021-2022) by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which emphasises a high prevalence of depression among this demographic, this study investigates the effect of such courses on the mental health of students. The research objectives include an examination of the utilisation patterns of open online psychological courses, an evaluation of the mental health outcomes associated with these courses, and an investigation of the barriers preventing student participation. It also investigates how educational institutions address the mental health requirements of their students in view of the persistent psychological effects of the pandemic. The majority of college students find open online psychological courses beneficial for mental health enhancement. However, significant obstacles such as schedule constraints, financial constraints, and course quality concerns remain. In addition, the study highlights the potential for these courses to incorporate mental health support into the larger educational curriculum. This research has significant implications for policymakers, educational institutions, and mental health professionals, as it provides insights into strategies for enhancing college students' mental health support and education. By resolving these challenges and leveraging the benefits of open online courses, institutions can nurture a more resilient and psychologically healthy student population.

Empowering Deaf Learners: The Promise of Sign Language MOOCs

In the realm of education, deaf students face significant communication barriers that limit their integration and success within intellectual communities. Due to the use of distinct mother languages, a communication gap arises between deaf and non-deaf communities. This poses serious difficulties for deaf students, who communicate primarily in sign language and are unable to fluently read materials written in spoken language. As most didactic materials in higher education are available exclusively in spoken languages, this further limits the opportunities and chances for deaf students to succeed. While technological advancements have made it possible to create tools and services that translate between spoken and sign languages, they are often expensive and not widely available in educational settings. The proposal is a pedagogical model that seeks to overcome these obstacles and foster inclusivity by offering deaf students access to educational resources in their mother language – sign language. This is accomplished using Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) paired with automatic sign language translation technology. To demonstrate this model's effectiveness, a digital literacy course for schoolteachers was developed and evaluated within a group of users, including deaf students. The paper discusses the state-of-the-art of digital educational content available to the deaf, the process of translating digital learning materials into sign languages, the specifications needed to structure educational content for the deaf, and an example of the development methodology for creating multilingual learning objects for the deaf. The evaluation results indicate that MOOC is inclusive and positively impacts deaf students' learning outcomes. The proposed pedagogical model has significant implications for improving access to education and promoting inclusivity for deaf students worldwide. By utilizing technological advancements and creating inclusive digital educational materials, it is possible to bridge the communication gap between deaf and non-deaf individuals, thereby enabling deaf students to acquire, expand, and improve their knowledge in various subjects.

Open Educational Courses Aprendo+ by National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM): Achievements and Challenges

The National Autonomous University of Mexico has developed Aprendo+ open courses with the objective of offering the university community members and the general public the opportunity for the continuously updating knowledge or skills. In order to show the preliminary results of Aprendo+, we analize the metrics and platform reports for the 2018-2022 period. The results show that Aprendo+ has consolidated as a quality option for the continuously updating of the national and international university and non-university community. Being this a relatively new project, we found challenges related to information systematization, spreading and efficiency. To overcome these challenges will improve the content, reach and positive impact of Aprendo+ within the global community and its future.

Studying in Online Environment: Students' Attitude Towards Online Open Electives in Karnataka

With the increasing popularity of the online environment, universities and colleges have started offering open online elective courses to provide students with a wide range of options to choose from. However, the success of these courses largely depends on the students attitudes toward them. The current study aimed to investigate the attitudes of undergraduate and postgraduate students toward online open electives in Karnataka. The sample consisted of 393 students chosen through purposive sampling and employed MOCA (Measure of Online Communication Attitude), developed by Ledbetter in 2009. The study revealed that students reported higher levels of apprehension and self-disclosure when compared to other domains, with social connection, ease, and miscommunication following suit. Males were observed to have higher levels of self-disclosure and social connection when compared to females. Apprehension was found to be more prevalent among students under 20 years old, whereas miscommunication, social connection, and ease were more prevalent among those between 23 and 25 years of age. Students from rural areas tended to exhibit higher levels of self-disclosure, apprehension, and miscommunication compared to their urban counterparts. Government college students reported higher levels of apprehension, while self-disclosure, social connection, and ease were higher among students studying in unaided colleges. Miscommunication was found to be more common among humanities and social science students, while science students reported higher levels of social connection and ease. The results of the study will help understand the factors that influence students’ attitudes towards online open electives and provide insights into how universities and colleges can improve the design and delivery of these courses to enhance students’ learning experiences.

Assessing the Impact of a Collaborative OER & Affordable Resources Committee: Instructors’ Awareness of Course Material Options

This case study shares observations from a 2022 survey of 197 instructors at Iowa State University, a public research university in  the United States. The survey sought to explore instructor awareness of three major affordable course material initiatives supported by the university’s  Open & Affordable Education Committee (OAEC): open educational resources (OER), Course Reserves, and Immediate Access. Results from the survey found that despite significant cross-promotion and collaboration between the three programs represented on the OAEC, the awareness and uptake of each program varied wildly, as did instructors’ understanding of the differences between each material type. This paper shares the results of that survey, as well as improvements which have been made to the OAEC’s programming and promotion efforts in the year since.

Toward self-directed learning: How do Nepali adolescents learn with MOOCs?

The study investigated how adolescent students in Nepal explored massive open online learning courses (MOOCs) in a self-directed learning manner. It used a qualitative approach by conducting 13 individual interviews with these youth. Findings suggest that Nepali adolescent MOOC learners are strongly motivated by natural curiosity toward learning as well as encouragement and inspiration through the local learning community, which is significantly different from adult learners’ motivation. In terms of self-monitoring in self-directed learning, adolescent learners need scaffolding to support them in making metacognitive decisions. Furthermore, while self-management skills are necessary for successful MOOC learning, in turn, MOOCs improve self-management skills that can be transformed into other life activities. As shown in this study, the local community of practice plays a critical role in motivating adolescents to continue learning from MOOCs and serves as a significant resource to complement MOOC learning.

57 Butterflies and Ribbons: The Positive Impact of Educational Strategies to Optimize Communication with Parents after the Perinatal Loss of a Co-twin

Abstract Background In neonatology, multiples pregnancies are common: 50% of twins and 95% of triplets are admitted to the NICU. Unfortunately, it is not rare for one baby to die. When this happens, parents are in a unique situation: they need to mourn their baby, while continuing to visit their other baby(ies) in the NICU. Communication with parents in these circumstances has been demonstrated to be sub-optimal, sometimes because clinicians are unaware and ask harmful questions (e.g., “Do you have any other kids?”) or because their education on how to deal with such issues was limited (despite available evidence). These gaps often lead to parental distress. Objectives To assess the impact of two different teaching strategies for clinicians dealing with the perinatal loss of a co-twin or triplet. Design/Methods Two different programs aimed at educating clinicians dealing with perinatal loss of co-twins or triplets were evaluated in 2022: 1) an open online 4-hour course with theory and practical points (the Butterfly project); and 2) a one hour in-person (workshop) or online course offered to NICU clinicians (free of charge) in a large academic NICU. The second course became the “Ribbon project” because bereaved parent partners had recommended the symbol of a ribbon rather than the butterfly as better reflecting perinatal loss. In both courses, essential topics were covered. For example: identifying the status of a surviving twin (including name of the deceased one); moving the surviving baby to another room after the death, knowing when and how to speak with bereaved parents, and identifying the surviving twin status at discharge. Participants in both groups were surveyed to ask whether they were satisfied with the course, their knowledge of care for perinatal loss was evaluated pre- and -post course, as well as when and how they used their training. Clinical impacts of the Ribbon project were also evaluated. Results In the butterfly project, all participants (n=734) reported that training exceeded or met their expectations, while 97% reported they learned new skills, and 48% reported already applying them. Many participants were grateful for the course, answering positively to open-ended questions: e.g., “I found this course incredibly useful for my future practice,” and “I feel a lot more confident in supporting parents.” For the ribbon project (n= 174), 97% were satisfied or very satisfied with the training, and 97% reported feeling more comfortable talking to bereaved parents. Knowledge improved with training. In clinical audits that occurred between 2020 and 2022, 100% of cases were identified (28/28; 23 twins and 5 triplets surviving; 8 antenatal deaths) on the incubator and the baby(ies)’ admission card. Also, 100% of the surviving twins or triplets kept their identification (#1, 2, or 3) after speaking with parents, all changed rooms after the death of their co-twin or triplet, and all had the name of their co-twin or triplet on the discharge summary. All clinicians (55) knew what the ribbon symbol meant when asked during surprise audits at the bedside; 38/55 (71%) felt comfortable dealing with parents in this situation and for those who did not, they knew who to ask for help. Conclusion Different educational strategies to optimize communication with families after the perinatal loss of a co-twin/triplet are appreciated and have a positive impact. One hour of teaching specifically for NICU personnel is enough to make a difference.

Massive Online Open Courses for Emergency Health: Analysis of Global Use, Adaptation, and Sharing of Courses on the OpenWHO Platform (Preprint)

Massive Online Open Courses for Emergency Health: Analysis of Global Use, Adaptation, and Sharing of Courses on the OpenWHO Platform (Preprint)

Influencing Factors of the Quality of MOOCs Based on the KANO Model

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) represent a new online course and teaching mode, offering targeted instruction and timely services to learners. They have become a key direction for reforming online education. Although MOOCs have experienced significant growth in recent years, the quality of courses published on platforms varies greatly, and scientific quality evaluation mechanisms are lacking. Existing studies on online course quality have primarily relied on questionnaire survey data. In the online environment, an abundance of comment data on platforms reflects learners’ perceptions of course quality, and an analysis mode based on learning comments can address the limitations of questionnaire surveys effectively. In this study, comment texts from learners on Chinese university MOOC platforms were chosen as research data. The influencing factors of online open-course quality were analyzed using the KANO model combined with the ordinal Logit regression method. Results demonstrate that system features, video production, teaching level of teachers, usefulness of teaching content, and comprehensiveness of teaching content are essential quality factors. Course-supporting information is considered an expectant quality factor. Teachers’ teaching style and course interaction are categorized as engaging quality factors. This study provides valuable insights for improving MOOC quality in Chinese universities.

Nuclear decommissioning: project management and leadership

Abstract. Management and leadership for safety relate to managerial competencies necessary to develop, promote and sustain a safety culture and to set goals, lead others and manage knowledge and projects to enhance safety performance. The development of these competencies is needed to enrich and complement the predominant technical background and skills of engineers and/or managers involved in the nuclear sector and particularly in decommissioning and dismantling (D&D) projects. The recent recognition of the importance of managing for safety led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to develop formal safety requirements that are now implemented by its member states. This includes the need to develop training and education for beginning- and mid-career managers with nuclear safety responsibilities and, considering the time frame of D&D projects, for future generations of managers. Training and education challenges are acute in all Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC) and European countries, where managers need to develop knowledge and comprehensive safety-related competencies to run the D&D projects of nuclear facilities in a context where the generational change of managers in the nuclear field is happening fast. In 2016/2017 the IAEA and the European Commission (EC) developed a cooperative framework to jointly address a similar challenge related to operation and regulatory oversight of nuclear installations. The development of these projects was possible by funding from the European Union (EU) through its INSC instrument. The first project, led by the IAEA in 2017, was the development of a pilot school for safety leadership at the University Côte d'Azur (UCA), France. Encouraged by this success, the agency has since then developed the syllabus into a 2-week programme, still based on experiential learning, which is offered to IAEA member states who wish to organise sessions for their managers (regulatory bodies or industry). The second project, named ELSE, was operated by UCA and aimed to develop training to help managers acquire leadership for safety capabilities, which are key professional requirements in complex, high-risk and highly regulated sectors such as the nuclear sector. The originality of the ELSE project stemmed from its science-based approach, integrating the most recent findings of management and other social sciences. The dedicated ELSE training programme is composed of a massive online open course (MOOC), a 10 d of face-to-face training and an individually tutored project. Based on the success of these experiences, the EU decided to prolong these actions in the field of nuclear D&D, leading to the start-up, in 2023, of the Decommissioning Management and Leadership for Safety Education (DMaLSE) project. This project has also been entrusted to UCA, in partnership with SKEMA Business School, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Jacques Repussard Conseil. DMaLSE has two main objectives, namely to develop a science-based training programme for future D&D project managers and to extend the impact of the project through bachelor-degree-level on-site training for operators involved in D&D projects.