Comparative Study of Idea Generation between Traditional Value Management Workshops and GDSS-Supported Workshops

Value management (VM) has been widely used to meet challenges arising from the construction industry. However, it has also encountered some problems such as passive participation in VM workshops and a lack of time and information to complete all tasks in the workshops. A group decision support system (GDSS), entitled interactive value management system (IVMS), has been developed by the writers to overcome these problems. This paper starts with an introduction to GDSS and a critical review of technologies used in the process of idea generation in VM workshops. This is followed by findings of a laboratory experiment designed to compare the productivity of traditional brainstorming and brainstorming with IVMS support in VM workshops. The results of the experiment showed that IVMS has a positive influence on idea generation in VM workshops. Finally, the implications of the study and directions for future research are discussed.     

Using Group Decision Support System to Support Value Management Workshops

A group decision support system (GDSS) is an interactive computer-based information system that combines the capabilities of communication technologies, database technologies, computer technologies, and decision technologies to support the identification, analysis, formulation, evaluation, and solution of semistructured or unstructured problems by a group in a user-friendly computing environment. As there is a strong demand for improvements to the practice of value management (VM), research has been conducted to design a GDSS prototype system, named the interactive value management system (IVMS), to explore its potential application in VM workshops and to investigate the effect of the application. The paper begins with an introduction to the problems of implementing VM in the Hong Kong construction industry and then proceeds to an illustration of the features of the proposed system, which has been developed in the research. Two validation studies designed to test the support of the proposed system are described and the results discussed. Findings from this research indicate that IVMS is supportive in overcoming the problems and difficulties in VM workshops.     

Critical Success Factors for Value Management Studies in Construction

Value management (VM) studies often face pressure caused by limited time and resources. The identification of key factors for value management success enables appropriate allocation of the limited time and resources in order to achieve better output. Most of the related past work only identified critical success factors for value management studies in general. This paper seeks to distinguish these factors according to their degrees of importance in relation to success. A questionnaire survey was conducted to gather views from experts with experience in value management practice. The findings of the survey reveal the relative importance of the nominated success factors. Two factors that had not been highlighted by previous research are identified as having a significant influence on the success of VM studies. In order to explore the underlying construction among the identified critical success factors (CSFs), factor analysis was adopted to investigate the cluster of the relationship. The results indicate that the success of VM studies requires a combined effort from all parties involved.     

Integrating Sustainable Design into Architectural Engineering Education: UNL-AE Program

Given the profound impact of the built environment on the resources of the earth, a growing number of institutions of higher education are preparing engineers to make sustainable design a standard in the construction industry. This paper looks at the diverse ways in which education in sustainable design can be integrated into engineering curricula using the architectural engineering (AE) program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) as a case study example. The UNL program is unique in that it prepares students for careers in sustainable development through a curriculum that promotes both traditional and hands-on, experiential learning. Through coursework, research, workshops, student competitions, and even interaction with the UNL engineering facility, students learn how to make our built environment more sustainable. A key facet of this program is to connect the institution with the local community and industry to give students an opportunity to apply skills learned in the classroom to real-world problems in professional settings. Hence, this “green” integration actually takes place on two levels, within the UNL curriculum itself and within the larger context of the community and industry. Together, academia, the industry, and the community are preparing engineers to help ensure a more sustainable future for our world.     

Problem-based medical education: development of a theoretical foundation and a science-based professional attitude

Problem-based learning, combined with early patient contact, integration between different subject areas, elements of multiprofessional education, and special emphasis on the development of communications skills has become the basis for the medical curriculum at the Faculty of Health Sciences in Link?ping. Critics have questioned the depth of the scientific and theoretical aspects of the curriculum. Through a series of specific measures in the organization of the curriculum and examinations, and due to the pedagogical principles involved per se, our claim is that students graduating at Link?ping do possess the required theoretical knowledge and a scientific attitude to the practice of medicine, at least equivalent to that obtained in a more conventional medical curriculum. One such specific measure is that all students perform one field study and two scientific studies during the course of the curriculum. An investigation of student opinions regarding the value of performing scientific projects of their own have shown that these projects have had a positive impact on the students' general scientific attitude and their willingness to engage in future scientific work. The specific skills acquired, as confirmed by oral examinations, were largely determined by the scientific nature of the chosen field of study. Our graduates have not yet progressed far enough in their careers for comparisons to be made on the basis of the Swedish Licensing Board Internship Examinations, but continuing evaluations of students, graduates and licensed doctors emerging from the curriculum will provide future evidence as to whether our present evaluation is correct.     

Teaching Engineering Surveying in a Civil Engineering Program: Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment

As engineering surveying is highly concerned with its intensive involvement in the construction of roads and bridges, drainage systems, buildings, railways, and tunnels in civil engineering, the subject of engineering surveying is being offered by the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics to all undergraduate students who are taking the Bachelor of Civil Engineering Degree Program in the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Under the new outcome-based curriculum and work-integrated education requirements, the curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment for the subject are described here by answering the questions of “what are the goals and objectives of the curriculum,” “what should students learn,” and “how should it be learned, taught, and assessed.”     

Measuring the Performance of Value Management Studies in Construction: Critical Review

Value management (VM) is a useful method to use when dealing with issues such as budget and schedule challenges arising in the construction industry. However, little research has been done to measure the performance of VM studies, which has made many potential users reluctant to use VM. This paper presents a critical review of the development of performance measurement in general and the performance measurement in the construction industry, with a special focus on the performance measurement of VM studies in construction. The strengths and weaknesses of the existing measurement frameworks are investigated in the context of VM studies. It is concluded that traditional performance measurement of VM studies focusing on cost reduction is insufficient. Many other perspectives, such as clarifying objectives, and improving communication among stakeholders, should be considered seriously when making the measurement. This paper reveals that the existing frameworks to measure VM studies are inappropriate. It suggests that perspectives such as multicriteria measurement, flexible framework for different practice, and benchmarking to identify best practice could be adapted to develop a performance measurement framework for VM studies.     

Identification of Key Performance Indicators for Measuring the Performance of Value Management Studies in Construction

Value management (VM) is widely regarded as a useful tool for management to meet the challenges, such as limited resources and tight schedules arising in the construction industry. A rigorous measurement on the performance of VM studies is likely to improve the implementation of the VM methodology and enhance the confidence of clients about their investment in VM. The identification of key performance indicators (KPIs) is an essential first step in developing a proper performance measurement framework. This paper aims to identify the KPIs for measuring the performance of VM studies in construction. Delegates of international VM conferences hosted by SAVE International and Hong Kong Institute of Value Management during the period 2005 to 2007 were used as the target group for a questionnaire survey. The survey results identified 18 KPIs out of 47 potential performance indicators. They are divided into three groups: predicting indicators, process-related indicators, and outcome-related indicators, according to their characteristics. Three principal components were identified by using factor analysis of the KPIs, which reveals the interrelationship among the KPIs. Details on how to implement these KPIs, such as data providers, weightings, and scoring methods, are also presented.     

Significance of revision of the occupational illness legislation for evaluating intervertebral disk damage

This paper describes why case studies deserve a place in the centre of the bioscience curriculum, and how they have been used as a vehicle to improve care and save lives. A knowledge of drugs, their side-effects and interactions is becoming increasingly important to nurses. One powerful way to convey this information is the case study, which, despite its limitations, has the potential to endow difficult topics in therapeutics with the power of the narrative. The author suggests that case study projects encourage students to forge theory-practice links, related to their own specialist areas. When shared with their colleagues, these encourage the class by illustrating 'bioscience in action' and endowing the subject with the 'reality factor'. They also provide rich qualitative data for evaluating and delineating the curriculum. These case studies demonstrate the value of evidence-based practice; although case data is part of the evidence, it can never substitute for evidence-based practice. This paper builds on the findings of the author's PhD in postregistration nurse education; the examples described here are typical of 151 such cases in the research project.     

Building Research Skills: Course-Integrated Training Methods

An enriched syllabus has been experimentally introduced to undergraduate level students enrolled in a geotechnical engineering course. Two research assignments have been integrated in the course, which require students to find information on a geotechnical engineering topic using both print and electronic resources available at the university library and on the Internet. Aiming to foster the development of technical information literacy and communication skills, the students are required to prepare a report based on a specific set of guidelines, followed by oral presentations of the topics researched. Between the two assignments, a lecture on the subject of identifying and using information resources for geotechnical engineering is included in the syllabus. Preliminary results of the study are presented along with directions for designing and implementing an enriched curriculum for geotechnical engineering courses.     

Professional Program Criteria for Civil Engineering Curriculums

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has adopted a revised set of accreditation criteria that is designed to ensure that graduates of accredited programs are prepared to enter the practice of engineering. The proposal also specifies that engineering programs must demonstrate that their graduates have an understanding of professional practice issues in addition to proficiency in specific subject areas that are tabulated in the civil engineering program criteria. The findings of this study indicate that engineering undergraduate and graduate students as well as practitioners perceive that four subject areas are of great importance for civil engineers. They include structural engineering, hydraulics∕hydrology∕water resources, engineering design, and mathematics through calculus and differential equations. In contrast, one area, chemistry, received lower ratings. The data suggest that the majority of subjects included in the civil engineering program criteria are considered by students and practitioners to have generally the same level of importance and should be included in the curriculum at an above average level. In particular, 81% of the subject areas included in the ABET civil engineering program criteria are rated by both students and practitioners with a composite score ≥3.1. This may be interpreted as strong support for the Engineering Criteria 2000 program requirements.     

A teacher inservice model for problem-solving in classroom discipline: Suggestions for the school psychologist.

Suggests that school psychologists may find themselves faced with the task of conducting teacher inservice workshops on the subject of classroom discipline and discusses the shortcomings of various approaches to teacher training in classroom discipline. Four key principles of a teacher training model are presented for school psychologists' use. The principles focus on the concept of "discipline subsystems" (i.e., instruction, behavior modification, group management/dynamics, and psychodynamic/human relationships). The 4 discipline subsystems are both interrelated and interdependent, such that the functional characteristics of any one subsystem may influence the functional characteristics of other subsystems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How to Stop Engineers from Becoming “Bush Lawyers”: The Art of Teaching Law to Engineering and Construction Students

Law forms a core part of most engineering and construction programs. The way that law subjects are taught varies dramatically, and too often focuses on trying to teach students complex aspects of the law, such as contract, tort, and trade practices. This paper suggests that the aim of including law subjects in construction and engineering degrees needs to be clearly understood as this determines the content of the law subject. It is argued that the reason for including a law subject should be not to teach students the law, but rather to train them to recognize when legal issues arise in their work, and how to respond to such issues. With this aim in mind, a model curriculum is proposed and insight given into how to most effectively implement such a course.     

Information technology and the clinical curriculum: some predictions and their implications for the class of 2003

Information technology, medical knowledge, and medical practice are on a collision course. The consequences of the impact will change the way physicians work, the way medical knowledge is processed, packaged, and distributed, and the way patients obtain medical care and information. Today's educators need to design an information technology curriculum to prepare students for this emerging world of practice. Computer labs, based on today's complex and unreliable desktop systems, are not the answer. What is needed by students who entered medical school in 1997-98 is an informatics curriculum that is based on the real-world requirements of 2003 and beyond. The authors draw upon academic studies and their own clinical and industry experiences to outline some predictable elements of what lies ahead. Their predictions--ubiquitous, simple network computing and "power tools" for managing medical knowledge--have implications for how schools cover such educational topics as patient confidentiality, systems thinking and error management, and knowledge resource evaluation.     

A comparison of the geometric reasoning of students attending Israeli ultraorthodox and mainstream schools.

Effects of schooling on a geometric misconception were examined by comparing the performance of Israeli students attending ultraorthodox schools with that of peers attending mainstream schools. These groups were of special interest because both value education highly and send essentially all children to school, but 1 group receives extensive instruction in mathematics and science and the other receives almost none. Despite the ultraorthodox 12–14 yr olds' having received no instruction in geometry, they more often solved the geometric misconception problems than did mainstream peers who had received extensive instruction in the subject. Mainstream 16–18 yr olds did somewhat better on the misconception task than did orthodox age peers, but even there, the advantage of the mainstream students was limited to those exposed to the most advanced mathematics curriculum. How mainstream and orthodox schooling may have contributed to these findings is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teacher influences on student achievement.

Reviews research that indicates that students achieve more when their teachers emphasize academic objectives in establishing expectations and allocating time, use effective management strategies to ensure that academic learning time is maximized, pace students through the curriculum briskly but in small steps that allow high rates of success, and adapt curriculum materials based on their knowledge of students' characteristics. Qualitative research also indicates that teachers differ in how they perform such instructional behaviors as giving information, asking questions, and providing feedback. Context-specific effects are noted with respect to grade level, socioeconomic status (SES), ability and affect, and teacher intentions. It is concluded that any attempt to improve student achievement must be based on the development of effective teaching behavior. (66 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distribution of a murine protein tyrosine phosphatase BL-beta-galactosidase fusion protein suggests a role in neurite outgrowth

OBJECTIVE: This study examined whether providing a school-based teacher wellness program enhances the impact of a health curriculum on student outcomes and improves cognitive, behavioral, and physiological outcomes among participating teachers. METHODS: Thirty-two elementary schools were randomly assigned to experimental or comparison conditions. Comparison group schools received the Gimme-5 program, a curriculum designed to increase fourth and fifty graders' consumption of fruits and vegetables. Experimental schools received Gimme-5 and the teacher wellness program, which included 54 workshops over 2 years, along with several schoolwide health activities. Physiological, behavioral, and cognitive outcomes were assessed in teachers and students. RESULTS: There was no evidence that the intervention favorably modified any student or teacher end points; nor did intervention teachers deliver the Gimme-5 program with greater fidelity than comparison teachers. CONCLUSION: Confidence in the null results is bolstered by the randomized design, baseline sample equivalence, appropriate mixed-model analyses, and lack of selective or differential attrition. Insufficient participation in the wellness program appears a likely explanation for the lack of teacher and student effects. Factors specific to the school setting and intervention may have diminished participation and, thus, intervention effects.     

Update--noise induced hearing loss and the military environment

Quality clinical experiences are a critical component of advanced practice nursing (APN) curricula. Historically, nursing instructors coordinated both the didactic and clinical components of a course. Increasingly, course coordinators organize the didactic component, and external preceptors working in the clinical setting function as practicum teachers. Both scenarios involve labor-intensive processes, and neither facilitate the scheduling of clinical experiences that build on progressive learning across the student's curriculum. A centralized, computerized, relational data base for efficient management of APN preceptors and students across the curriculum was designed. One master's-prepared clinical coordinator maintains the data base and performs all related functions. This system offers numerous benefits to students, preceptors, ] faculty, and nursing school, including balanced and progressively complex clinical learning experiences for students from competent preceptors: consistent interface with students and preceptors; faculty relief from time-consuming tasks; rapid generation of a variety of tables, rosters, and reports; consistent tracking of preceptor evaluations; timely acknowledgment of preceptor assistance; and efficient communication among students, preceptors, faculty, and school administration.     

Transporting an evidence-based classroom management program for preschoolers with disruptive behavior problems to a school: An analysis of implementation, outcomes, and contextual variables.

The transportability of an evidence-based teacher professional development program, the Incredible Years Classroom Management Program, was evaluated. This study compared the impact of two training methods: self-administered videotape modeling (VM) and self-administered videotape modeling plus consultation (VMC) on teachers' use of classroom management strategies, reductions in disruptive behaviors, acceptability, and contextual barriers of sustaining EBIs in practice settings. Four pairs of teachers (N = 8) were randomly assigned to VM or VMC conditions in a multiple probe design. Students (1-2 per classroom; N = 13) displaying high levels of externalizing problems also participated. Statistically significant between-groups differences in teacher confidence ratings, use of positive instructional practices, and acceptability favored the VMC condition. Positive trends favoring VMC students, including clinically significant increases in social competence, were also found. Although students in both groups exhibited reductions in disruptive behaviors, significant between-groups differences related to disruptive behavior were not observed. Findings related to contextual variables (e.g., time, cost, institutional support, adaptability of the program) have implications for future adoption of this program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)