ABSTRACT:
Although globalization as a phenomenon is perceived in everyday life as an economic process, it is strongly con-nected with culture, knowledge, communication and mediated information, forcing today’s societies to face novel communicative challenges while trying to maintain stability. For post-crisis societies, these challenges repre-sent a new level of complexity to overcome. Many re-gions in the world still face conflicts and crises and will eventually face similar situations regarding their commu-nication, media and culture.

This paper uses data from two empiric studies made in post-crisis societies (Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo; studies in Santos 2010 and Shahini-Hoxhaj 2014) and analyses them through the perspective of cultural science, social systems theory, and systems thinking to answer the question: What kind of system dynamics can be helpful to generate knowledge, assuming the interactive use of media and global connection, and how can media educa-tion be an active support for the self-organization of a community in a transitional process?

The societies in question are not only moving away from dictatorship, but they are also moving towards democra-cy, and the media as means of communication are con-tributing to this process. From the point of view of cultural science, the media are no longer just the producer of content for recipients. Media is the venue, the place where information, values and structures can be ex-changed and discussed. Recipients and producers of in-formation are now one and the same.

ABSTRACT:
This paper discusses how Flexible Learning can be implemented through blended learning at the teacher trainer college of the University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, Netherlands. To ensure quality blended learning programmes, it is essential that teachers developing blended learning courses are trained, particularly in relation to applied methodology. To understand how best to implement blended learning at the teacher trainer college extensive research was carried out, the findings of which were made available to the University’s teachers in the form of a content-based, yet hands-on blended training programme with TPack as its exit point. The student results showed a marked improvement when following a blended learning course developed by teachers who were trained in the programme as compared to blended learning courses developed by non-trained teachers, In addition, the results of the blended courses (which were developed by trained teachers) showed a vast improvement of the non-blended courses, it’s so called ‘regular’ variant.

ABSTRACT:
Complexity of the design profession is progressively increasing. Design schools must educate future designers in different areas of knowledge. To become designers, students need to acquire specific intellectual abilities. Are these being taught today? In which form? To answer these questions, a hypothetical list of thinking qualities has been defined, informed by the work of widely recognized authors. This involved the comparison of the most relevant pedagogical perspectives in order to understand the best timing and the most effective acquisition process. The final result is a final map of a pedagogically correct design thinking educational path. It has been achieved combining designers desirable thinking qualities with the best way and time to acquire them. With extensive use of alternative internet forms of teaching the fast growth of virtual development technologies will allow more time for the thinking and creative process. The purpose set for this study was the improvement of curricula and communication in order to respond to the needs of the evolution in progress. The impact on design teaching programs is significant. It opens up to a wide discussion about the real priorities of design education and how these choices can be functional to the presently opening scenario.

ABSTRACT:
Four sections of senior Honors Human Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) students are representative of sixty-five nations. These classes participated in a yearlong investigation pursuant of innovative learning, and grading modalities to introduce a 21st century curriculum for A&P to become a College Board Advanced Placement (AP) course. All enrollees began the year by taking a self-assessment based on Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences. This data was evaluated for the design of learning approaches identifying student uniqueness that could better implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and present State of Tennessee Human Anatomy and Physiology Learning Standards laying the groundwork to write the AP curriculum. Component curriculum rubrics were used, and modified to enable students to self-evaluate their performance in certain areas. Students participated in teams represented as Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ‘Intern Teams’ investigating various diseases. The students, also, researched health equity, and disparity issues from variables based on survey questions they designed that could affect the health care treatment of patients suffering from their investigated disease. They then proposed a 2016 CDC Educational Campaign revamping public health education for the disease, including brochure, and public service announcement (PSA).

ABSTRACT:
The research project “Management of System and Information Technology in Hospitals” (GESITI/Hospitals) has the purpose of mapping out the management of Information Systems (IS) and Information Technology (IT) in hospitals. By applying a multifocal prospective questionnaire in hospitals, the research aims to identify the hospitals need and demand, prospecting for unfolding, and generate a public integrated research report for supporting public and/or private decisions-makings. The ultimate result from this GESITI/Health research project should be a significant improvement on the hospital management and on the decisions-makings, which must reflect on peoples more satisfied regarding a better health care.

Therefore, this paper aims to publish the main ideas of the GESITI/Health project i.e., its “Methodology &original Prospective Questionnaire (PQ)”. The methodology used is the Interpretative (or Introspective). About the PQ, we do not known, up to this date, who have developed a multifocal broad field tool -the PQ-, aiming wide hospitals management-. From 2010-16 the “methodology and PQ” have been implemented by about forty -40- universities -and increasing-, from Brazil and Abroad and, forty local research reports were generated. A book, published by the Brazilian Minister of Health [1], presents the results of a pilot project carried out by nineteen -19- out of these forty -40- universities, to know: sixteen Brazilian, one Mexican, one Argentina, one from Slovakia and one from Portugal. The chapter 25 of this book [1.A] presents an integrated research from all nineteen chapters -an integrated research report-.

Finally, in the oral presentation, we will briefly present the “Methodology and the PQ” presented in this paper and, also, we will present an integrated comparative analyzes -main results got with the field application of the PQ- regarding the case studies accomplished by the universities from Brazil & Abroad.

ABSTRACT:
What is research today? Good research has to be indexed within appropriate mechanisms to be visible, considered and finally useful. These mechanisms are based on quantitative research methods and codes that are often very academic. Consequently, they impose rigorous constraints on the way results should be obtained and presented. In addition, everything people learn in academia needs to be graded. This leads to standard packaging of what should be learned and results in making people executants and not creators nor inventors. In other words, this academic standardization precludes freedom for innovation. This paper proposes Human-Centered Design (HCD) as a solution to override these limitations and roadblocks. HCD involves expertise, experience, participation, modeling and simulation, complexity analysis and qualitative research. What is education today? Education is organized in silos with little attempt to integrate individual academic disciplines. Large system integration is almost never learned in engineering schools, and Human- Systems Integration (HSI) even less. Instead, real-life problemsolving requires integration skills. What is design research? We often hear that design has nothing to do with research, and conversely. Putting design and research together, as complementary disciplines, contributes to combine creativity, rigorous demonstration and validation. This is somehow what HCD is about.

ABSTRACT:
In this paper, an analysis for consumer perception of the level of electricity price, the amount of household electricity consumption and consumer perception on dynamic electricity pricing system in South Korea are investigated. A survey was conducted between July 24 and August 17, 2015 and then for the preference analysis, Binary Logistic Model is applied for the acceptance, Ordered Probit Model is applied. The major findings say that the less they have monthly income, the more satisfied dynamic pricing. In dynamic electricity tariff, real time pricing is most preferred dynamic pricing system and it reaches about 40% of respondents.

ABSTRACT:
In recent years CR has been considered by experts as one of the most important intangibles assets for sustainability of the companies. Existing literature designates several positive aspects of a good CR, highlighting that companies with better CR have superior financial performance. In this sense, some recent researches, conclude that a good CR decreases the risk for companies, focusing on the relation between CR and the variability of returns over a period of time. Nevertheless, as far as we know, there are no studies analyzing the relation between CR and bankruptcy risk, what it is an important component of the unsystematic risk, and an aim element in Strategic Management. This is why the aim of this paper is to show, based on empirical evidence, that a good CR helps companies to minimize bankruptcy risk. To answer this research question, a sample of Spanish companies in the Share Market between 2008 and 2012 has been used, and an algorithm based on Generalized Regression Neural Networks (GRNN). Results shown that a good CR is positively related to a lower bankruptcy risk, and those models built with GRNN are more robust than those others based on traditional statistical techniques, like Multi-Linear Regression models.

ABSTRACT:
Peer-to-peer interaction is a key component of learning across nearly all educational contexts, from face-to-face and hybrid courses to flipped, online, and distance education. [1] Peer feedback on writing is a form of peer interaction that has been shown across learning contexts to have considerable positive impacts. [2] The potential for peer feedback acquires heightened potential and complexity in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) due to their scale and learner diversity. [3] One ongoing and oft-cited concern surrounding peer feedback involves negative attitudes about whether peers have the capacities needed to provide meaningful, reliable response to one another. [4] Such a problem is, arguably, magnified in a MOOC with the diversity of learners. This study proposes refocusing this problem by exploring instead the learning outcomes learners gain from providing peer feedback. This paper will present the background, methods, and emerging results of an IRB-approved qualitative coding study of over 6,000 discursive comments from students enrolled in a MOOC about what they learned from providing peer feedback.

[1] Laurillard, D. (2012). Teaching as a design science. New York: Routledge.
[2] Holt, M. (1992). The value of written peer criticism. College Composition and Communication, 43(3), 384- 392.
[3] Comer, D. K., Clark, C. R., & Canelas, D. A. (2014). Writing to learn and learning to write across the disciplines: Peer-to-peer writing in introductory-level MOOCs. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 15(5).
[4] Furman, B., & Robinson, W. (2003). Improving engineering report writing with Calibrated Peer Review™. In D. Budny (Ed.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Frontiers in Education Conference. Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Digital Library.

ABSTRACT:
The paper describes the up-to-date interdisciplinary research that has been established in Slovakia in recent years. It requires the close cooperation between specialists from medical fields as well as technicians as it deals with creating the supporting tool for physicians to evaluate a patient’s diagnosis. The research is based on the need of doctors to create a system reliable enough, that would help them to assess the health status of human respiratory system. This task first comprises the design of a working station that could serve for capturing series of images (video sequences) of investigated sample obtained by doctors, including a light microscope and a high-speed camera with appropriate software. Then is comprises also development of sophisticated methodologies for analysis of obtained images and detection of objects of interest within them, and finally the evaluation of behavior of investigated structures which determines the health status of a patient. This interdisciplinary cooperation is as unique as it is the only one of this kind in our country as there does not exist any other way how to evaluate the health status of human respiratory system using smart technological approach.

ABSTRACT:
The use of technology in teaching offers numerous amounts of possibilities and can be challenging for physics, chemistry and geology content courses. When incorporating technology into a science content lab it is better to be driven by pedagogy than by technology in an inquiry-based lab setting. Students need to be introduced to real-world technology in the beginning of first year chemistry or physics course to ensure real-world technology concepts while assisting with content such as periodic trends on the periodic table. This article will describe the use of technology with Raman Spectroscopy and Energy Dispersive XRay Spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) to research chemical compositions in the real world of unknown samples. Such unknown samples utilized in this lab were clamshell (parts of clams that look like shark teeth) versus shark teeth. The data will be shared to show how the students (pre-service teachers and in-service teachers) solved the problem using technology while learning important content that will assist in the next level of chemistry, physics and even geology.

ABSTRACT:
Nowadays one of the most challenging tasks of producing companies is the growing complexity due to the globalization and digitalization. Especially in high wage countries, the ability to deliver fast and to a fixed date gets more and more important. To achieve this logistic targets, it is necessary to optimize the Production Planning and Control (hereinafter PPC).

In times of Cyber-Physical Systems and the horizontal and vertical connection of whole producing companies, the PPC has to deal with huge and real-time data. In the practice as well as in theoretical models there is a research deficit regarding to scheduling parameters (hereinafter SP). These parameters determine, for example, the planning frequency, planning length or planning resolution. A suitable setting of these parameters is indispensable in order to be able to process the data mentioned above.

This is why, this study investigates the effects of a change of the scheduling parameters on a target system. The focused research questions are: How can the effect of a scheduling parameters-variation on the target system of the PPC can be displayed efficiently? Is it possible to review the effect of the scheduling parameters-variation quantitatively and to derive action options?

ABSTRACT:
The prediction models for the United States Medical Licensure Examination (USMLE) Steps 1 and 2 performances were constructed by the Monte Carlo simulation modeling approach via linear regression. The purpose of this study was to build the robust simulation models to accurately identify the most important predictors and yield the valid range estimations of the Steps 1 and 2 scores. The application of simulation modeling approach was deemed an effective way in predicting student performances on licensure examinations. Also, sensitivity analysis (a/k/a what-if analysis) in the simulation models was used to predict the magnitudes of Steps 1 and 2 affected by changes in the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) Basic Science Subject Board scores. In addition, the study results indicated that the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) Verbal Reasoning score and Step 1 score were significant predictors of the Step 2 performance. Hence, institutions could screen qualified student applicants for interviews and document the effectiveness of basic science education program based on the simulation results.

ABSTRACT:
Complexity science is becoming increasingly poplular in order to more effectively tackle with the convoluted and multi-dimentional problems. In this work, we discuss the application of complexity science based on the case study of reliability physics of semiconductor laser diodes (LDs) and integrated circuits (ICs). We show the common effect of critical current density on laser diode and IC interconnect, and discuss its implication in device design. Our study also demonstrates that universal law of complexity science could be applied to seemingly different fields as the innovative, inter-disciplinary approach to resolve the ever-increasing complex problems.

ABSTRACT:
Fluctuation or variation of the heartbeat represents momently varying inner emotional tension. Can this psychological variations of the inner world, anxiety for example, is detectable and even quantifiable? Our answer to the question: Using a long-time electrocardiogram (EKG), we quantified them. We recorded EKGs by our own EKG amplifiers. The amplifier has a newly designed electric circuit, which enable us to record a stable EKG. The amplifier made it possible to record a perfect EKG where the EKG trace never jump-out from the PC monitor screen. Using this amplifier, we captured approximately 2000 heartbeats without missing a single beat. For the analysis of the EKGs, we used “modified detrended fluctuation analysis (mDFA)” technique, which we have recently developed by our group. The mDFA calculates the scaling exponent (SI, scaling index) from the time series data, i.e., the R-R interval time series data obtained from EKG. Detecting 2000 consecutive peaks, the mDFA can distinguish between a normal and an abnormal heart: a normal healthy heartbeat exhibits an SI of around 1.0, comparable to the fluctuations exemplified as the 1/f spectrum. The heartbeat recorded from subjects who have stress and anxiety exhibited a lower SI. Arrhythmic heartbeats and extra-systolic heartbeats both also exhibited a low SI ~0.7, for example. We propose that the mDFA technique is a useful computation method for checking health. The functional capabilities of various internal systems, such as the circulatory system and the autonomic nervous system, can be quantified by using mDFA.