CUCWD

View our latest webinar: Creating the new EV workforce

David Lee — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 18:20:06 +0000

Four NSF-funded students hosted in Research Experiences for Undergraduate Students (REU) program

David Lee — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 14:40:30 +0000

The Clemson University Center for Workforce Development hosted four NSF-funded students through the Research Experiences for Undergraduate Students (REU) program during summer 2023. They conducted experiments to explore the effect of change blindness on humans with 40 participants. As a part of the experiment, they identified images and changes in the images for a simulation that was used as the intervention to explore the phenomenon. They also designed the experiment by identifying the dependent and independent variables, deciding on the methodology used to conduct the experiment, submitted an IRB application for conducting human subjects research and recruited participants by advertising the study at various locations and online platforms. The REU students analyzed the data using statistical analysis techniques.

Throughout the summer program, the REU students presented their progress on the experiment through weekly presentations to Dr. Chalil Madathil and received feedback on ways to improve. They participated in a poster presentation competition (pictured here), presenting the findings from their experiment and also submitted a research paper summarizing the results.

EducateWorkforce: New Features Highlights & Learner Experiences

David Lee — Fri, 10 Feb 2023 00:52:15 +0000

New Learning Frontend

The frontend of the platform is changing to micro-frontends which allow for rework of an enhanced UI/UX experience, reduction load times and performance updates, and limits scope of the application. Updates to the Learner Profile, Account Settings, and Course Experience pages have shifted all or partially to this new frontend rework. Improvements have also been added enabling learner schedule personalization, course dates and milestones, an updated progress page, team assignment submissions, as well as major updates to the mobile application video experience.

New Course Grade Book Frontend

Figure 1: New Frontend Grade book With Filter Menu Expanded

The grade book displays a table, with a row for each learner enrolled in the course, listed by username, and a column for each assignment in the course.

The grade book includes the following features:

Filtering: There are several options for filtering the data shown on the grade book.
- Assignment Type: only show grades for a certain Assignment Type.
- Assignment: only show grades for a single Assignment.
- Assignment Grade: when filtering by Assignment, only show users with a grade for that assignment within a certain range.
- Overall Grade: only show learners whose total course grade is within a certain range.
- Track: only show learners of a certain enrollment mode (e.g. verified, audit, masters). EducateWorkforce uses the `honor` track mode which allows the learner to earn a certificate of completion.
- Cohort: only show learners in a certain cohort. EducateWorkforce does not use the cohort feature at the moment.
- Include Course Team Members: By default, users with certain course roles (Staff, Admin) will be excluded from grade book results. To include those users, you can select this option, which will include those excluded users in the grade book.
Searching: You can search for individual learners by their username, using the search field. Searches are case-insensitive.
- Grade Override: You can override the grade that a learner has received for a specific graded subsection.
  Figure 2: New Frontend Grade Override Interface

What does this new frontend offer over the legacy grade book?

The micro-frontend offers a great deal more granularity when searching for problems, an easy interface for editing grades, an audit trail for seeing who edited what grade and what reason they gave (if any) for doing so.

UsageProblems can be filtered by student as in the legacy grade book, but can also be filtered by scores to see who scored within a certain range, and by assignment types (note: Not problem types, but categories like ‘Exams’ or ‘Homework’).

Figure 3: Legacy Grade book

What does the legacy grade book offer that this new grade book frontend does not?

This new frontend does not create any graphs, which the traditional grade book does. It also does not give quick links to the problems for the instructor to visit. It expects the instructor to be familiar with the problems they are grading and which unit they refer to.

The grade book is expected to be much more performant for larger numbers of students as well. The Instructor Dashboard link for the legacy grade book reports that “this feature is available only to courses with a small number of enrolled learners.” (e.g. 200 students) However, this project comes with no such warning.

New Course Project Page

Figure 4: New Frontend Course Progress Interface

New features of this micro-frontend include:

Course Completion Chart represents all course content completed, both graded and ungraded. This radius chart represents how much of the course content you have completed – that is, the content that’s received a green checkmark. That’s not just graded assignments, but also readings, videos, or practice assignments. This chart did not exist in the legacy course progress interface.

Figure 5: New Frontend Course Progress – Course Completion Char

Grades Bar Chart displays the current assignment weighted grade compared to the grade required to pass the course to receive a certificate of completion. This chart shows the minimum passing grade on the bottom and your current grade on top. A message below indicates whether you’ve passed the course or not at this time. The more assignments you complete in the course, the more points you earn, the higher this score will grow.

Figure 6: New Frontend Course Progress – Grades Bar Chart

Grade Summary table shows all assignment types and their weights and makes it clear how your final grade is calculated in the course. The table names each assignment type, its weight, the score in that assignment type, and its weighted grade. Weight means the percentage that an assignment’s score counts towards the total score. This table did not exist in the legacy course progress interface.

Figure 7: New Frontend Course Progress – Grade Summary Table

Detailed Grades table outlines each graded assignment chronologically by course section with the learner’s corresponding score. The title of each graded assignment links to the page where you can find that assignment. This interface is similar to how the old progress interface worked but it limits details initially for each assignment score by lesson and offers a way to see details for each problem if necessary.

Figure 8: New Frontend Course Progress – Detailed Grades Table

Certificate Status tells you whether learner earned the certificate yet or not and it provides this indicator all the time, where the legacy interface only displayed it to the learner when they passed the course. This new feature lets you know whether your certificate is available based on your Progress score and enrollment track. If your certificate is available, it includes a link View my Certificate to view it.

Figure 9: New Frontend Course Progress – Certificate Status (Available, Not Available)

Course Dates and Milestones

Personalized Schedules: Though self-paced courses offer the significant advantage of being available on-demand when a learner wants them, they lack the supporting structure of schedules and timelines. We’ve introduced some of this structure and accountability by creating personalized schedules for each learner, and clearly showing the suggested dates and timeline in the course. These schedules are based off of the course’s expected duration, and customized for each learner’s unique start date. We’ve also retained the advantages of flexibility — should a learner fall behind, they are able to adjust their schedule.

Full Page Dates View: To improve visibility into dates for both instructor-paced and self-paced courses, we have also introduced a dedicated full page view of critical course dates. Each relevant milestone will also link directly to the subsection, to provide easy and quick access. In the future, we will also add the ability for learners to add these dates to their calendars.

Figure 5: New Frontend Course Dates Interface

Key Terms Dashboard and Xblock

This has been a much-needed feature by EducateWorkforce since we started developing courseware. With new platform development we were able to extend the LMS/CMS applications by including interfaces to upload key terms for a course and display them to the learner through course components and tabbed glossary views.  Before this feature was developed, a course developer would need to use web languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript when building out key terms and glossary information for the learner. This would require technical skills and could be error prone due to the way the code was structured. Below you will find three different interfaces that show this key term and glossary feature.

Learner: Key term course component

This interface allows the learner to engage with the lesson and module key terms more fluidly. In the previous design term names were presented and the learner had to click the name or textbook icon to go to a separate browser tab to view the glossary or textbook page(s) to locate the definition or descriptive text. With this update the learner can now click on each term and be presented immediately with the term’s definitions, textbook/lesson page hyperlinked locations, and external resource links. With this new interface design were able to provide the learner with a more streamlined approach for interfacing with key terms, eliminating the back and forth of page opens and keeping the learner focused on the content.

Figure 11: Key Term Course Component Interface.

Learner: Course Glossary

This interface allows the learner to view course key terms and their additional information more fluidly. The interface provides similar functionality to the key term course component in that the learner engages with key term definitions as well as textbook, lesson and reference hyperlinked locations found in the course. The glossary looks at all key terms throughout the course and provides a filter by module if needed.

Figure 12: Course Glossary Interface.

Instructor: Key Term Dashboard

This interface provides the instructor with a way to manage key terms for the course either by entering terms in manually or using an external key term templated Excel (XLSX) file for bulk import. The bulk import modal screen provides a way to identify which key terms the instructor would like to add or update if an existing term is found in the course. A term can have multiple definitions and external references. After a course reindex is performed, these terms will include hyperlinked locations to textbook or lesson course locations where additional term’s identification can be found. The instructor could click these hyperlinks to view or share them with the learners as needed.

Drop downs in Breadcrumbs

To enable faster movement through course content, staff users will now see jump navigation selectors to augment the existing course breadcrumb in the learning sequence experience (Learning MFE). With this deployment, a staff user can select a section or subsection, a menu will appear, and the user can jump to a particular unit within a course. Additionally, the breadcrumbs displayed at the top of a page in the legacy experience were organized by Course -> Sequence -> Unit -> Content Block Title, but in the new MFE breadcrumbs only include Course -> Sequence -> Unit. This removes visual clutter of having the same title repeated in a small space on the page.

Figure 13: Course Breadcrumb Interface.

Learner Profile Frontend

A complete rewrite of the learner profile experience was completed with new micro-frontend service implementation. This new experience provides improved visibility controls and new optional fields that can be shown on the profile.

Figure 14: Learner Profile Interface.

Account Settings Frontend

A new Account micro-frontend now also powers an updated account settings experience on the platform. The account settings page can now be more easily extended with plugins, and all features available on the previous account settings page were migrated over to this updated experience.

Figure 15: Account Settings Interface.

CUCWD hosts National Science Foundation-funded workshop

David Lee — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 21:11:28 +0000

Clemson University’s Center for Workforce Development, the Center for Aviation and Automotive Technological Education Using Virtual E-Schools (CUCWD and CA2VES – Clemson, SC) and Northland Community College’s National Center for Autonomous Technologies (NCTC and NCAT – Thief River Fall, MN) hosted a two-day National Science Foundation-funded workshop entitled “COVID-19 Educational Approaches: Domestic and International Responses to Education During the Pandemic” on October 24-25, 2022 in Washington, DC to discuss challenges and learning adjustments colleges made during the early days of COVID-19. The purpose of the workshop is captured in the following four goals:

Understand and learn about the U.S. and international educational challenges and responses in technological education during the pandemic.
Determine and compare national and international successful strategies.
Contribute to the overall discussion with lessons learned from individual experiences.
Develop an evidence-based report for implementing best practices in respective institutions.

Workshop participants provided short talks on best practices and participated in group interactions. The workshop organizers will create a report based on workshop findings to support the technician education community in the awareness and implementation of some of the approaches uncovered during the workshop. Workshop participants included two-year and select four-year college faculty engaged with two-year institutions.

Virtual Manufacturing Laboratory: American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics Simulation Library

David Lee — Tue, 20 Sep 2022 17:41:14 +0000

Optical Fiber Manufacturing

3 Modules

Module 1: Optical Fiber Fundamentals
Module 2: Preform Lathe
Module 3: Fiber Draw Tower Operation

Course Overview: Optical Fiber Manufacturing

The Optical Fiber Manufacturing course provides learners with introductory knowledge on how optical fiber works, the materials from which it is made, and the processes used in its manufacturing. Detailed and in-depth simulations of the preform lathe and fiber draw tower are provided for learners to virtually experience the process and understand each component used in the manufacturing process.

The first module on Optical Fiber Fundamentals introduces learners to why optical fiber is used, how it carries light, and the basics of how it is made. The second module on Preform Lathe provides a background on how preforms are made using Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) processes, the basic chemistry involved, and the names and functions of the components used in preform manufacturing. Finally, the Fiber Draw Tower Operation module introduces learners to the fabrication of optical fiber using a fiber draw tower.

The Fiber Fundamentals Simulation explores how fiber core diameter affects the fundamental mode shape and size. The MCVD lathe simulations introduce and guide learners through the process of manufacturing a glass preform for use in fiber optic cables. Additionally, the Draw Tower simulations take the learners step-by-step through the process of drawing out a glass preform into a fiber.

Course: Fiber Crafting

2 Modules

Module 1: Advanced Preform Lathe
Module 2: Advanced Fiber Draw

Course Overview: Fiber Crafting

The Fiber Crafting course provides advanced knowledge on optical fiber fabrication including the materials from which preforms and fibers are made and the manufacturing processes involved. Detailed in-depth simulations of the modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) preform lathe and fiber draw tower are provided for advanced learners to virtually experience the process and how the process conditions affect the end products.

The first module on Advanced Preform Lathe provides learners with advanced knowledge on how preforms are made using modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) processes, the precursor and reaction chemistry involved, the processes stages, and common flaws or failures incurred during preform manufacturing. The second module on Advanced Fiber Draw provides learners with advanced knowledge on how optical fiber is drawn on a draw tower, the components and processes stages, and common flaws or failures incurred during optical fiber manufacturing.

The simulation in Advanced Lathe allows learners to manufacture glass preforms for use in fiber optic cables. Learners can then draw their preforms into fiber using the Advanced Draw Tower simulation.

Course: Integrated Photonics Simulation Library (IPSL)

5 Modules

Module 1: Introduction to Waveguide
Module 2: Waveguide Fundamentals
Module 3: Multimode Inteferometer
Module 4: Edge Coupler
Module 5: Grating Coupler

Course Overview: Integrated Photonics Simulation Library (IPSL)

The Integrated Photonics Simulation Library (IPSL) course covers the basics of photonic waveguiding. This course is intended to be accessible to a wide range of engineering students who have a basic understanding of optics, electricity and magnetism, and vector fields.

The first half of the IPSL course introduces waveguide modes, electromagnetic vector fields, mode superposition, and the dynamic behavior of light in a dielectric waveguide. The second half of the course dives into the behavior of select silicon photonic components like multimode interferometers (MMIs), edge couplers, and grating couplers.

The simulations, videos, and exercises will help users gain an advanced foundation in integrated photonics that will be useful to both engineering students and experienced designers. Learners will move beyond ray optics to learn the basics of modal analysis and mode superposition using novel methods of 2D and 3D data visualization.

Kapil Chalil Madathil wins young investigator award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society

Dave Lee — Wed, 14 Sep 2022 15:33:02 +0000

Our own Kapil Chalil Madathil has won this year’s William C. Howell Young Investigator award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES). The award “recognizes the talent, creativity, and influence of a singular young researcher,” according to the society’s website. He will receive the award Oct. 10 at a ceremony in Atlanta.

Chalil Madathil said he is grateful for the recognition.

“This award reflects not only my work but also the diligent hard work and support of my team, including my family, my mentors and the students in my research group,” he said. “I thank my nominators, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and all those who have supported me throughout the years.”

Congratulations, Kapil!

Read the Full Release

Preparing future health care workers for interactions with people with dementia

Dave Lee — Fri, 09 Sep 2022 13:28:21 +0000

Abstract

Strategies used in training future health professionals have expanded from traditional methods to a variety of approaches, including sensitivity training. Students who receive disease-specific sensitivity training are more compassionate to patients. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) sensitivity training includes deficit-focused dementia tours that physically alter sensations. This embedded-experimental (between-subjects) variant mixed-methods study assessed the effectiveness of virtual reality as a delivery format for dementia tours compared to dementia tours that physically alter sensations. It also compared the effectiveness of deficit-focused dementia sensitivity training to reading strengths-focused case studies, a traditional instruction method.

Forty-one university students were randomized into one of three conditions. All participants completed pre- and post-assessments and were interviewed. Quantitative results indicate that a dementia tour offered through virtual reality is as effective as a physical-based tour; however, compared to reading case studies, participants reported poorer attitudes about living with AD and feeling less prepared for caregiving. The qualitative results show an increase in empathy across all conditions. Integration of findings indicates that dementia tours in both formats are effective at encouraging empathy and that both strengths-based and deficit-based sensitivity training are important components of education for future health care workers.

Read the Full Study

Behind the Scenes: FAA Airframe Curriculum Development

Dave Lee — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 17:50:11 +0000

The Clemson University Center for Workforce Development partnered with gvllive, a local video production company to record instructional footage for CUCWD’s upcoming Airframe curriculum. Carl Washburn, the Aircraft Maintenance Department Head at Greenville Technical College, who serves as the instructor for the online content, demonstrated inspection techniques for environmental control systems onboard real aircraft in the SCTAC instructional hangar. This demonstration footage will be included in CUCWD’s Hydraulic and Pneumatic Systems course on EducateWorkforce, available for piloting now.

Create a Technical Maintenance Support Team That Helps Decrease Downtime

David Lee — Thu, 14 Apr 2022 13:51:52 +0000

It is a new year with companies creating new goals. The goals may be different, but they all consist of the same concepts.

To run with little to no downtime and develop suitable products, I have recently started a new industry training program here at Clemson University. This program is designed to help companies get their maintenance support trained to help eliminate some of this downtime. Identifying and correcting issues before they happen is a skill maintenance support need.

Read the full article authored by our own Rodney Jones on Greenville Business Magazine.

CA2VES Coordination Network Innovation Award Winner

David Lee — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 18:20:34 +0000

CA2VES Coordination Network Innovation Award Winner:
Paul Weber
Utah Valley University

Paul is the lead investigator on an NSF ATE grant: Integrating Environmentally Improved Photolithography Technolgy and Virtual Reality Games into Advanced Nanotechnology Education.

Through this grant, Paul has developed VR simulations that can be taught in a nanotechnology course. Simulations include using a Scanning Electron Microscope and Photolithography. Recently, Paul provided a workshop on using VR in technical education programs. His dedication to providing nanotechnology students unique learning environments in the virtual world will lead to growth in the use of VR in technical education.

Paul will receive a $500 prize and free registration at the 2021 HI-TEC Virtual Conference! He was nominated by Jared Ashcroft of Pasadena City College.