Journal of
Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics
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 ISSN: 1690-4524 (Online)



TABLE OF CONTENTS





Teaching and Assessing Creativity in STEAM Education
Areej ElSayary
Pages: 1-7
ABSTRACT:
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has become an international focus of paramount significance. Through educational reform, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has stated national strategic measures in its Vision 2021 to raise students’ attainment in TIMSS and PISA standardized assessments and to promote STEM education. Furthermore, developing STEM talents in Emirati students is one of the main purposes of the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy. Adding art to STEM has a positive impact on students’ attitudes, motivations, and interests, leading to development of their creativity skills. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect teaching and assessing students’ creativity. A mixed-method design was used to answer the research questions. The study was conducted in a private school in the UAE. The participants are science, technology, language art, and mathematics teachers (n=30). The results of the study emphasized that motivation, cognition, and metacognition set as factors affecting students’ creativity in STEAM classes. A balance between formative and summative assessment should be considered, to shift the focus from raising students’ attainment in standardized assessments to developing their creativity skills.


Resignification of the Concept of Linear Inequality Through Graphic Argumentation – The Case of the Noise Emission Norm
Neemias Lemus-Cortez, Claudio Gaete-Peralta, Jaime Huincahue
Pages: 8-12
ABSTRACT:
The objective of this research was to analyze the construction of mathematical knowledge associated with the linear inequalities that Chilean students carried out through graphic argumentation, in a modelling process framed in the Socioepistemological Theory of Educational Mathematics. To fulfill this objective, the methodology was qualitative and consisted of a case study in which 28 Chilean 12th grade students participated in a classroom situation where a modelling process was applied through the use of a mobile phone application called Sound Analyzer that designs graphs of a sound in decibels according to time. The students described the number of decibels of a certain song and identified the time intervals in which that song exceeded the number of decibels established by regulation by the Ministry of the Environment of Chile. As a result of the investigation, it was found that the students were able to generate, in a modelling process and through graphic argumentation, a resignification of mathematical knowledge associated with linear inequalities.


A University's Developmental Framework: Creating, Implementing, and Evaluating a K-12 Teacher Cybersecurity Micro-Credential Course
Bekir Mugayitoglu, Mike Borowczak, Andrea C. Burrows
Pages: 13-22
ABSTRACT:
At present, there is limited understanding of cybersecurity micro-credentials and their impact on K-12 teachers. This work evaluates a university’s development of a computing-based learning and teaching environment for K-12 teachers, focusing on a set of cybersecurity micro-credential modules that we encapsulate within micro-credential professional development (PD) opportunities. This ongoing work consists of two pilot studies (Pilot 1 and Pilot 2) over an academic year (2020–2021) that engaged 21 K-12 teachers. The research questions explore the benefits and challenges of the cybersecurity micro-credential PD. The authors developed two modules for Pilot 1: Introduction to Cybersecurity (Module 0) and the Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability (CIA) Triad (Module 1). There were nine K-12 teachers enrolled in the Pilot 1 course, with five participating in all aspects of the pilot study. The authors developed three more modules for Pilot 2: Abstraction (Module 2), Modularity (Module 3), and Least Privilege (Module 4). The authors utilized quantitative and qualitative data collection via four methods: 1) Assessment and lesson plan scores (quantitative); 2) thirteen semi-structured interviews (qualitative); 3) two bi-weekly progress reports (qualitative) and 4) two focus groups (qualitative). They assessed teachers' knowledge gains in specific cybersecurity and computing. The authors coded interview question answers, focus group notes, and biweekly progress report summaries and grouped them into major themes by searching descriptive words. This research study showcases innovative tools (i.e., micro-credential modules) for teaching cybersecurity.

Lastly, the authors describe a method to deliver cybersecurity content through a micro-credential based on virtual PD for K–12 teachers. The main limitation in this work is the small sample size.


User-Friendly Interfaces for Vygotskian Computer-Based Learning Activities
Umberto Dello Iacono, Terry Amorese, Marialucia Cuciniello, Chiara Vitina Mannillo
Pages: 23-29
ABSTRACT:
In this paper, we present the Learning Interface for Mathematics Education (LIME) project. The main goal of this project was to create User-Friendly Interfaces (UFI) for Vygotskian computer-based learning activities (VCBLAs) in order to promote their dissemination in the school context. A VCBLA is based on collaborative scripts, according to the Vygotskian perspective, and is implemented on e-learning platforms (such as Moodle). It is aimed at the development of argumentative and problem-solving skills in mathematics, and in other educational contexts or for vocational training. Based on VCBLAs testing and studies in the literature, we have identified the requirements for UFI in order to increase users’ (i.e., students and teachers) acceptance to enable large-scale testing and use of VCBLAs.


Peace Education in Societies Involved in Intractable Conflicts: Intervention Among the Arab Group as a Case Study
Sehrab Masri, Ihab Zubeidat, Waleed Dallasheh
Pages: 30-40
ABSTRACT:
Israeli society and the relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs have been thoroughly researched as an example of majority and minority groups that are in a deep-rooted conflict that effects mutual attitudes and behaviors, and the possibility of peaceful coexistence. Israeli Arabs are in a particularly difficult situation, where on the one hand they identify themselves as Arabs and Palestinians, and on the other hand their values and aspirations contradict at least to some level those of the Israeli society [1].

The current study attempted to overcome these limitations by conducting a uni-national intervention separately with Arab and Jewish adolescents. The current article presents the results pertaining only to the Arab participants. In addition, the program focused mostly on fostering emotional skills. The research accompanying the implementation of the program was quasi-experimental. The sample included 172 Arab 10th and 11th grade adolescents in northern Israel. The main research hypotheses were: 1) The participants' emotional intelligence and empathy towards Arabs will be higher at the end of the program than at its beginning; 2) The participants' empathy towards Jews will be higher at the end of the program than at its beginning.



Evaluation of Simulation Based Education Clinical Preparation Program for Unstable Patient Management
Dilek Kitapcioglu, Serpil Yaylaci, Sinem Yildiz Inanici, Mehmet Emin Aksoy, Mehmet Ali Gulpinar
Pages: 41-44
ABSTRACT:
In this study, the aim is to evaluate clinical transfer of unstable patient management competencies acquired by learners in simulated environment and evolution of their skills in clinical environment. Performances of 87 intern medical students of Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University that participated in two weeks long simulation based education program were evaluated both in simulated environment and in real clinical environment. Analyzes were performed using the MedCalc Statistical Software version 12.7.7. Observational performance scores of Group A were 18,68±1,70 over 24 point in simulated environment and 19,65±2,87 in first clinical test and 22,12±2,45 in second clinical test. Scores of Group C were 18,9±4,55 in simulated environment 16,36±4,2 in first clinical test, and 23,32±2,44 in second clinical test. Scores of Group D were 14,5±4,04 in simulated environment 19,32±3,76 in first clinical test and 21,87±2,78 in second clinical test. Scores of Group B in simulated environment were 17,68±2,73 but Group B performances could not be evaluated in clinical environment due to pandemic. Simulation-based education is effective for improving the competencies of learners for management of unstable patients.


Domain Ontologies and the Conversion of Tacit Knowledge in Software Development
Euler Evangelista, Cristiana De Muÿlder
Pages: 45-50
ABSTRACT:
This study presents a proposal to build and analyze a domain ontology as a tool to support the knowledge transfer process in the context of software requirements analysis in the medical/pharmaceutical industry. The proposal is to use ontologies as an engineering artifact with the objective of representing knowledge in a specific domain, which, in the context of this research, is software modeling. A domain ontology is built to represent the requirements of a data warehouse/business intelligence software in the medical/pharmaceutical industry. The ontology-building process is supported by a specific methodology, defined with the purpose of building such artifacts, named “Methondology,” and selected based on the research requirements. A prototype is created in the implementation phase of the ontology-building process. The results demonstrate that ontology domains can contribute to the process of analyzing and representing software requirements, as well as serving as a tool for organizational knowledge transfer through continuous knowledge conversion, which is critical for business sustainability. This study is an attempt to understand the knowledge conversion process in software development projects. Tacit knowledge is complex to articulate through formal language once it has been embedded with individual experience.


Development of Game-Based Learning Scenarios for Social Engineering and Security Risk Management for SMEs in the Manufacturing Industry
Margit Scholl, Stefanie Gube, Peter Koppatz
Pages: 51-59
ABSTRACT:
With increasing digitization, information security (IS) is becoming an important issue for all employees working in companies and organizations. If the human factor is to be seen as a strength rather than a weakness, appropriate awareness-raising measures are required. One way to raise awareness is through game-based learning (GBL), which can be used as an ongoing means of motivating employees to engage emotionally with the subject of IS and changing their online behavior accordingly. As part of the project “Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Stutt-gart” (Mittelstand 4.0-Competence Center Stuttgart), two analog GBL scenarios on the topics Social Engineering and Security Risk Management for SMEs are currently being developed over the period of a year, from April 2020 through to March 2021. In this paper, the develop-ment process—including the phases prototyping, testing, and adaptation—is described and the prototype results shown. Testing analog prototypes in times of COVID-19 is particularly challenging. The experience gained in this mini project will be incorporated into the new three-year project “Awareness Lab SMEs (ALARM) Information Security,” which is funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and has been running since October 1, 2020.


Organizing Studies Entrepreneurially to Adjust Inner and Outer Worlds During COVID-19
Karine Oganisjana, Mats Westerberg, Lenita Hietanen
Pages: 60-67
ABSTRACT:
This study aims to analyze the effect of a five-stage strategy elaborated within the Erasmus+ project FOrSE (Framework for Organizing Studies Entrepreneurially) realized by three EU universities. The strategy was integrated into a study course of Pedagogy to enhance entrepreneurial mindsets and behaviors of first-year international master’s students who did not have the opportunity for face-to-face studies due to the quarantine. The key focus of the strategy is to promote students’ ability to analyze the problems they face them during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify and/or realize new opportunities in the face of worry and uncertainty. The qualitative content analysis of the master’s students’ reflections and the analysis of the challenges they faced, including the new opportunities they identified and/or realized, showed that they tried to adjust their inner world to the events which taking place in the outer world in order to gain self-confidence and achieve harmony.


Analysis of Cerebral Blood Flow Complexity When Listening Music with Emotional Content
Rubén Cavieres, Jean Landerretche, José Luis Jara, Max Chacón
Pages: 68-73
ABSTRACT:
Despite differences in ethnicity, culture, or language, music is a universal stimulus that can evoke intense feelings in people. Studying its effects, however, is challenging because of its emotional nature. This study analyzes the effects of listening different sound stimuli, such as music with emotional content, on cerebral hemodynamics. Cerebral blood flow signals were recorded for 16 subjects while performing five different music tasks. The complexity of each signal was estimated using multiscale Sample Entropy. Significant differences in mean complexity were found between two tasks, which suggests that intense cognitive activities having emotional content yielded a decrease in the complexity of cerebral hemodynamics.