During the past several years an increase in use of Course Management Systems (CMS) in higher education’s instructional infrastructure had been witnessed (Morgan, 2003). As a result, increased online education placed an emphasis on CMS because CMS were able to provide information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Faculty, staff, and students were increasingly dependent on information and learning services provided by the colleges and universities (Carey & Gleason, 2006). The flexibility provided by the CMS had led campus faculty, staff, and students to expect continuous availability in campus systems (Carey & Gleason, 2006). This study examined faculty perceptions of a course management system used to enhance teaching and learning. Faculty members’ perceived motivation reasons and barriers were analyzed in this study using descriptive statistics. The important motivation reasons for using a course management system were to provide course information, augment student learning, and provide diverse teaching methods. In addition, the study revealed that faculty members were satisfied with institutional support in terms of training and technical support but not rewards received. Demographic variables (gender, age, faculty tenure status, faculty rank, college of teaching, location of course delivery, and time spent per week preparing materials) were examined to see if there were differences in faculty members’ perceived satisfaction of pedagogical effectiveness. An online survey was sent to 300 faculty members who used CMS in their academic courses at Mississippi State University. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the survey data. The results revealed that the majority of faculty used CMS primarily to: (a) distribute information to students, (b) augment student learning and (c) provide diverse teaching methods. In terms of strengths and weaknesses of a CMS some faculty members thought the tools were complicated to use while others thought it was easy to use. Overall, the majority of faculty thought that CMS was a great way to communicate with students. Faculty also thought that lack of time played a role in their ability to use CMS effectively.

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Engineering complex systems and New Product Development (NPD) are major challenges for contemporary engineering design and must be studied at three levels of: Products, Processes and Organizations (PPO). The science of complexity indicates that complex systems share a common characteristic: they are robust yet fragile. Complex and large scale systems are robust in the face of many uncertainties and variations; however, they can collapse, when facing certain conditions. This is so since complex systems embody many subtle, intricate and nonlinear interactions. If formal modelling exercises with available computational approaches are not able to assist designers to arrive at accurate predictions, then how can we immunize our large scale and complex systems against sudden catastrophic collapse? This thesis is an investigation into complex product design. We tackle the issue first by introducing a template and/or design methodology for complex product design. This template is an integrated product design scheme which embodies and combines elements of both design theory and organization theory; in particular distributed (spatial and temporal) problem solving and adaptive team formation are brought together. This design methodology harnesses emergence and innovation through the incorporation of massive amount of numerical simulations which determines the problem structure as well as the solution space characteristics. Within the context of this design methodology three design methods based on measures of complexity are presented. Complexity measures generally reflect holistic structural characteristics of systems. At the levels of PPO, correspondingly, the Immunity Index (global modal robustness) as an objective function for solutions, the real complexity of decompositions, and the cognitive complexity of a design system are introduced These three measures are helpful in immunizing the complex PPO from chaos and catastrophic failure. In the end, a conceptual decision support system (DSS) for complex NPD based on the presented design template and the complexity measures is introduced. This support system (IMMUNE) is represented by a Multi Agent Blackboard System, and has the dual characteristic of the distributed problem solving environments and yet reflecting the centralized viewpoint to process monitoring. In other words IMMUNE advocates autonomous problem solving (design) agents that is the necessary attribute of innovative design organizations and/or innovation networks; and at the same time it promotes coherence in the design system that is usually seen in centralized systems.

This paper presents an intelligent, hybrid system for stamping process planning in progressive die design. The system combines the flexibility of blackboard architecture with case-based reasoning. The hybrid system has the advantage that it can use past knowledge and experience for case-based reasoning when it exists, and other reasoning approaches when it doesn’t exist. A prototype system has been implemented in CLIPS and interfaced with Solid Edge CAD system. An example is included to demonstrate the approach. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The mental workload for fighter pilots in modern air combat is extremely high. The pilot has to make fast dynamic decisions under high uncertainty and high time pressure. This is hard to perform in close encounters, but gets even harder when operating beyond visual range when the sensors of an aircraft become the pilot's eyes and ears. Although sensors provide good estimates for position and speed of an opponent, there is a big loss in the assessment of a situation. Important tactical events or situations can occur without the pilot noticing, which can change the outcome of a mission completely. This makes the development of an automated situation assessment system very important for future fighter aircraft. This Master Thesis investigates the possibilities to design and implement an automated situation assessment system in a fighter aircraft. A Fuzzy-Bayesian hybrid technique is used in order to cope with the stochastic environment and making the development of the tactical situations library as clear and simple as possible.

<p>The mental workload for fighter pilots in modern air combat is extremely high. The pilot has to make fast dynamic decisions under high uncertainty and high time pressure. This is hard to perform in close encounters, but gets even harder when operating beyond visual range when the sensors of an aircraft become the pilot's eyes and ears. Although sensors provide good estimates for position and speed of an opponent, there is a big loss in the assessment of a situation. Important tactical events or situations can occur without the pilot noticing, which can change the outcome of a mission completely. This makes the development of an automated situation assessment system very important for future fighter aircraft. </p><p>This Master Thesis investigates the possibilities to design and implement an automated situation assessment system in a fighter aircraft. A Fuzzy-Bayesian hybrid technique is used in order to cope with the stochastic environment and making the development of the tactical situations library as clear and simple as possible.</p>

Learning management systems(LMSs) have become one of the most common computer systems adopted at universities, colleges and distance learning organizations. In order to identify different features and accordance of each LMS, LMSs’ features were compared by using four different categories; communication tools, productivity and student involvement tools, course delivery tools, and administration tools. Based upon the comparison of the different features affecting different usage patterns, this paper proposes a classification of seven selected LMSs; ANGEL, Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, WebCT, Ning and Elgg. These seven LMSs are classified into three groups according to systems’ pedagogical adaptability and technological usability. The classification seeks to understand the possibilities and limitations of what these classified groups of LMSs can accomplish and is used to suggest a suitable usage in order to support teaching and learning. The proposed classification implies the need of future exploratory case study analyzing teaching and learning practices according to the classification. / text

Students enter composition classrooms in the twenty-first century with various levels of computer proficiency and comfort with technology and digital media. Instructors often make assumptions that their students’ are familiar with technology, even though students may be hesitant to use technology in the classroom. This dissertation gathers data from one university class and two community college classes to study students’ perceptions of and use of technology, particularly the Blackboard content management system (CMS), in the critical pedagogy classroom. In particular, it studies students’ use of technology to reflect on their own work and engage in dialogue with classmates and the instructor. The evidence suggests that students use technology and media cautiously in the classroom and will revert to more traditional forms of expression (e.g., the linear essay) when they feel uncomfortable using technology or they feel that their grade is in jeopardy. Students tended to use Blackboard more for reflection and dialogue when the CMS was an integral part of in-class and out-of-class activities. Findings indicate that first-year composition instructors should reflect on their use of technology to enhance critical pedagogy and make that pedagogy more reactive to students’ needs. / Description of problem and study -- Literature review -- Methods and methodology -- Critical pedagogy in the laptop classroom at the university -- University students' perceptions and use of technology -- Critical pedagogy in the computer classroom at the community college -- Community college students' perceptions of and use of technology -- Student questioning, dialogue and reflection at the community college. / Description of problem and study -- Literature review -- Methods and methodology -- Critical pedagogy in the laptop classroom at the university -- University students' perceptions and use of technology -- Critical pedagogy in the computer classroom at the community college -- Community college students' perceptions of and use of technology -- Student questioning, dialogue and reflection at the community college. / Department of English

Engineering complex systems and New Product Development (NPD) are major challenges for contemporary engineering design and must be studied at three levels of: Products, Processes and Organizations (PPO). The science of complexity indicates that complex systems share a common characteristic: they are robust yet fragile. Complex and large scale systems are robust in the face of many uncertainties and variations; however, they can collapse, when facing certain conditions. This is so since complex systems embody many subtle, intricate and nonlinear interactions. If formal modelling exercises with available computational approaches are not able to assist designers to arrive at accurate predictions, then how can we immunize our large scale and complex systems against sudden catastrophic collapse? This thesis is an investigation into complex product design. We tackle the issue first by introducing a template and/or design methodology for complex product design. This template is an integrated product design scheme which embodies and combines elements of both design theory and organization theory; in particular distributed (spatial and temporal) problem solving and adaptive team formation are brought together. This design methodology harnesses emergence and innovation through the incorporation of massive amount of numerical simulations which determines the problem structure as well as the solution space characteristics. Within the context of this design methodology three design methods based on measures of complexity are presented. Complexity measures generally reflect holistic structural characteristics of systems. At the levels of PPO, correspondingly, the Immunity Index (global modal robustness) as an objective function for solutions, the real complexity of decompositions, and the cognitive complexity of a design system are introduced These three measures are helpful in immunizing the complex PPO from chaos and catastrophic failure. In the end, a conceptual decision support system (DSS) for complex NPD based on the presented design template and the complexity measures is introduced. This support system (IMMUNE) is represented by a Multi Agent Blackboard System, and has the dual characteristic of the distributed problem solving environments and yet reflecting the centralized viewpoint to process monitoring. In other words IMMUNE advocates autonomous problem solving (design) agents that is the necessary attribute of innovative design organizations and/or innovation networks; and at the same time it promotes coherence in the design system that is usually seen in centralized systems.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 288-304). Also available on the Internet.