bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE INCREASE OF SPORTS PERFORMANCE IN MEN'S ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS USING SOFTWARE FOR SELF-EVALUATION IN TRAINING SESSIONS
Authors: Corlaci Ionut
Published: February 2023

Through this research I want to point out that there are times when high performance in order to get over the plateau maximal technicians is available to do everything to overcome the limitations and bottlenecks stopped them rise performance athletes.
Hypothesis: By storing electronically comparing with the help of specialized software repetitions over time and analyzing electronic objectively can easily exceed the saturation state of resignation, capping, complacency that could occur during sports activities in the great performance.
We started this research due to the need coach, finding effective solutions to overcome this state of resignation and complacency, which some athletes a manifest and self-induced. Finally this attitude, condition, limit or even eliminate his sporting life.
Due to the decreasing number of Romanian athletes practicing artistic gymnastics male, from which we select from the seniors, I believe that solutions must be sought in this regard. All this to keep and to be effective in training, trying to form to become elite athletes, not athletes dozen.
The experiment was conducted in two stages. The first step consisted in observing and identifying problems. The second phase was conducted by the effective implementation of the directions of work to suit the profile gymnast and taking into account the particularities of its preparation. As long as we are talking about January 2013 - October 2014.
For this case study, in this research we used the following research methods: Study bibliographic material; observation; Processing, analyzing and interpreting images using specialized software; Bio-mechanical study to the evolution ideal.
USING THE MYOTEST AS A HIGH PRECISION ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT OF THE EXPLOSIVE FORCE IN RHYTHMIC GYMNASTICS
Authors: Grigoroiu Carmen , Pelin Raluca anca , Netolitzchi Mihaela , Pricop Adriandaniel
Published: February 2023

The study undertaken aimed at improving the preparation of the female athletes in rhythmic gymnastics through the development and implementation of training programs that include plyometric means focused on developing the explosive strength.
In order to do the research, the female gymnasts were assessed and measured using the "Myotest" apparatus by applying the Counter Movement Jump and Squat Jump, tests in the initial and the final phase of the experiment.
"Myotest Pro" is a device that calculates the power, the strength, the speed and also the power under speed, and the information obtained is transferred to the PC via a USB connection. In this research it was used to determine the explosive force of the female athletes involved in carrying out the specific technical elements of rhythmic gymnastics.
Using Myotest Pro as an explosive strength assessment tool is a novelty at the level II of the female juniors in the rhythmic gymnastics from Romania. Therefore the results of this research could not be compared with other studies in our country at this sport
The experiment took place during nine months of preparation and was conducted on a sample of 16 female atheletes, divided into two groups - the experimental group and the control one. In the preparation of the experimental group there were introduced plyometric means focused on developing the explosive strength, while the control group had an ordinary program preparation.
The comparison of the results obtained by the subjects between the initial and final assessment between the two groups, indicates significant statistical differences at all the tested parameters. The results obtained at the end of the experiment certify that the means employed proved their effectiveness and that the plyometric method used in the physical preparation of the female gymnasts produces significant increases of the explosive strength.
EQUIVALENCE METHOD FOR THE BRAKING EFFECT ON THE SWIMMING SIMULATOR AND THE SPECIFIC POOL CONDITIONS
Authors: Vasile Luciela , Stanescu Monica , Schor Daniela , Schor Vladimir , Teodorescu Virgil
Published: February 2023

Simulator training for swimmers is a well established practice by now. The increasingly valuable results are based on the progress of the athletes following the simulator training. The literature presents a range of training objectives and methodical instructions on its use in various stages of preparation.
In terms of methodology, focus shifted on the integration of the simulator training in a training plan for swimmers designed to improve the active phase of the motion. This paper aims to achieve this objective by finding simulator load steps that are similar to the resistance to motion in water, corresponding to the different means of training. The advantage of this approach is that the simulator allows very detailed analytic measurements that cannot be performed in the natural environment. These measurements can point out the swimmers' movement stereotypes characterizing the active phase of the motion in the water - the propulsion. In order to conduct the study, a WEBA Swim model was used. The device belongs to the Performer Sport Club (Bucharest).
The method depicted in this paper allows the identification of an equivalence coefficient of the strain on the simulator, comparable to the strain in water, and it consists in going through successive stages of practice and evaluating the effect of strain on the motion's structure. This equivalence allows the identification of the propulsion structure on the simulator, and the error correction in the motor execution, with a high rate of transfer in the implementation in the water. Based on the information obtained the training strain can be programmed depending on the preparation period of the athletes, and thus a better match with the competition effort can be secured.
THE IMPACT OF USING THE SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE ON STUDING THE LANDINGS AT UNEVEN BARS
Authors: Gavojdea Anamaria
Published: February 2023

Artistic Gymnastics is characterised by a higher content, rich and varied elements and technical processes. Gymnasts learn new elements on an ongoing basis, therefore these elements should be learned correctly from the technical point of view so that on the already appropriated content. New elements are built upon and tied to other elements, of a higher difficulty degree. In gymnastics, technical preparation is very important, because only a fairly correct technique ensures prospects for progress.
The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the dismounts characteristics of the double salto backward tucked`s landings, at uneven bars and the impact of using a specialized software for their technic`s analysis and correctness.
An constative study was realised in order to accomplish the purpose, in wich was used the biomechanic video analysis method, using KINOVEA and PHYSICS TOOLKIT as main research method. There were also used the following methods: study of bibliographic research, observation method, the statistical method and graphic representation.
With Kinovea were studied the angles, and with Phisics Toolkit programs were studied the dynamic and kinematic characteristics of technique's key elements used for the dismount with double salto backward tucked, using methods from Postural Landmarks of Movements as Main (key) Elements of Sport Acrobatics Technique: start position of the body (SP) - moment of releasing the bars , multiplication of body position (MP) - somersault rotation , maximum height of flight of General Centre Gravitation (GCG) , and final position (FP) of the body,- landing time of first contact (FP1) and final position (FP2).
The study subjects were the 8 junior III gymnasts, 12 years old, qualified in the final of uneven bars, at the Junior III, II and I Individual National Championship, Onesti 2013.
The study results revealed the biomechanical dismounts characteristics of the double salto backward tucked landings, execution technical mistakes in accordance with the sportive performance obtained in the contest.
SPORT EVENT ORGANIZER - A BLENDED LEARNING COURSE EXPERIENCE
Authors: Croitoru Doina
Published: February 2023

Sport event organizer as a blended learning course was developed in "E-learning for social partners" project. This project aimed to provide the possibility to study online to professional athletes. The project was financed from the Social European Fund and was implemented by the Professional and Amateur Footballers Association (AFAN) in partnership with National Trade Union Block (BNS) and Escola Professional Cristovao Colombo (EPCC) from Portugal In the project were developed 10 different courses - all of them aiming to facilitate the achievements of AFAN and BNS members - mainly by using an online learning platform
One of the courses developed into the project was Sport Events Organizer, and I was the tutor. In this role I designed the course architecture, with 6 learning modules in blended learning type - online and face-to-face. The blended organization of the course was imposed by the specifically modules: Sport Event 1. Ideation, 2. Planning, 3. Preparation, 4. Promotion, 5. Coordinating and 6. Evaluation. I considered that the 5th module must be constructed as effectively involving the learners into a specific activity and they must be present and implied.
Each module lasts one week starting on Monday until Friday. On Saturday and Sunday there were no more new assignments. The online learning platform was Moodle type and I used specific online tools: activity guides, learning resources (written materials e-courses, embedded and different reference sources), discussion forums, quizzes, case study, group work, glossary creation. The activity started in November 2012 and was finalized in April 2013
E-LEARNING IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE COURSES AS A PREREQUISITE FOR SUCCESSFUL JOB INTERVIEWS AND CAREERS IN THE 21ST CENTURY MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY
Authors: Catana Elisabeta simona
Published: February 2023

Living and working in the 21st century multicultural and technological society challenged by business and job market competition, we have to understand and respond to the new needs for education and communication by resorting to e-learning besides traditional learning for career choice and career development. Considering e-learning the prerequisite for thorough preparation for enjoying success in a job interview, this theoretical paper argues for the necessity of engaging the engineering students in e-learning activities in the English language courses and seminars in a technical university with a view to developing their communication skills for succeeding in a future career, showing them the importance of long-life learning and e-learning for adopting flexible, diplomatic and politically-correct approaches in the workplace environment, in a professional environment as well as in a social environment. Acknowledging the significant role of good communication and behavioural skills for successful job interviews and careers in our multicultural society, this paper argues that foreign language courses in a technical university should establish and accomplish the objective of developing the engineering students' language competence, their communicative competence as well as their awareness of the necessity to learn how to act, how to behave in a work-related environment by resorting to traditional learning and e-learning, which are the prerequisites for being able to beat the job market competition, to succeed in a job interview and in one's future career. Just having advanced knowledge in a certain domain and knowing an international language of communication for a job interview in a multinational, a candidate will not meet all the conditions for winning a job and for further succeeding in one's career. The absence of preparation and e-learning leads to poor performance in a job interview. That is why this theoretical paper will enlarge upon: 1) e-learning tasks for preparing and simulating job interviews in the English language classes in a technical university and on 2) e-learning tasks for career success and promotion after being offered the desired job. Quoting a series of theorists who argue for the importance of careful preparation for succeeding in a job interview, this theoretical paper shows that e-learning, besides traditional teaching and learning, is essential for the students' preparation to meet the employers' hiring criteria and demands.
NEVER TOO OLD TO LEARN: THE AGELESS JOY OF LEARNING
Authors: Colibaba Anca cristina , Gheorghiu Irina , Arhip Cristian , Gardikiotis Rodica , Colibaba Lucia cintia , Ursa Ovidiu
Published: February 2023

The paper is a study based on two projects (Grandkit and MyStory) funded by the European Commission (under KA3 ICT/ GRUNDTVIG Multilateral) which were implemented by EuroEd Foundation, Iasi and having as one of the target groups a large number of students at the School of Medicine in Iasi. Both projects start from a real phenomenon which Europe is facing nowadays: population ageing. The economic effects of an ageing population are considerable. As a result, new policies, mechanisms and strategies need to be promoted and developed as these initiatives could ensure that ageing becomes a creative and active, rather than a negative and frustrating, experience for all. Our societies have to promote solidarity between different groups of people, young and old. It is our belief that the more socially integrated the elderly are, the more gains our society will have. The more grandparents participate in family life, the stronger family bonds are. This will positively affect the younger generation (grandchildren) who are more and more exposed to social problems. The article presents several opportunities explored by the projects as well as the strategies developed in order to help bridge the gap between different groups of people and different generations. We analyse the intergenerational learning opportunities provided by the projects, highlighting the exchange of ideas and experiences between generations. Ageing is perceived as positive and dynamic; both generations share the same joy of learning. The benefits of both generations in terms of participants' well-being, social integration, communication, and ICT skills are also considered.
TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH BY MEANS OF ONLINE SOURCES
Authors: Constantin Andreea raluca
Published: February 2023

Learning foreign languages in the 21st century is a human necessity, a prerequisite for personal and professional success, an activity impossible to avoid. In addition, learning English, considered a lingua franca, a language so widely spread in the virtual world, mass media, advertising, music, TV shows, etc. can be easy, entertaining and accessible.
Starting from the topic of this workshop, based on my own experience as a Foreign Language Teacher and backed up by specialised courses for teachers of English, this paper aims to review, in a development focused manner, several authentic materials that teachers can use in class and to discuss the variety of sources that students can resort to and use individually.
On the one hand, teachers can tailor articles or stories from blogs, company websites, brochures, newspapers, magazines, etc, which, although not written for academic purposes, do contain real life situations, case studies, the genuine vocabulary of a specific field. This article will provide practical examples of online texts modified for the level of the students and the variety of activities derived from this adaptation, thus, matching reading, writing, speaking or vocabulary activities.
On the other hand, students, fond of and familiar with the virtual world, and who possess the necessary "habits of mind associated with these technologies" (Beetham and Sharpe, "An Introduction to Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age", 2007: 5) should be encouraged to use the Worldwide Web wisely in order to improve their language skills. Mobile apps for language learning (such as: http://freerice.com or https://www.duolingo.com/) or the inputs given by http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/ can be used by students on their own, in the comfort of their home. This paper will analyse the two apps and some Podcasts that can help learners to correct their pronunciation, giving them the confidence they need to express themselves in public.
STUDENTS' PERCEPTION AND EXPECTATIONS OF EDUCATIONAL USES OF WIKIS AND FACEBOOK FOR LEARNING ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES - A PILOT STUDY
Authors: Felea Cristina , Stanca Liana
Published: February 2023

The presence of social software and social media in higher education is subject to research and change of educational practice. The increasing use of Web 2.0 technology is well documented in the international literature, especially in relation to more interactive learning, shift to student-centered pedagogies and change of teachers' roles, and student engagement with the learning process. Recently, there seems to be a significant number of studies in which emphasis is moved from teaching to learning with technology, namely on students' expectations from technology use in their courses. In Romania, in spite of their acceptance in higher education teaching/learning process being still in the stage of early adoption, research in this area shows increasing preoccupation with studying their implementation and impact on teacher and student practice.
For the past five years, the authors have built and implemented a wiki-based blended learning programme for teaching English for Academic Purposes for undergraduate students at Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, Romania. They have studied its impact in relation to the factors that influence the use of social software/social media for learning, with language and IT proficiency levels as predictors of active use. Next, learning behaviour patterns were targeted to document transition from traditional to a web-based learning paradigm. Findings showed that student and teacher roles changed during the process, with the former developing independent and collaborative skills and the latter offering support and guidance as a facilitator. However, the quantitative analysis performed on several cohorts indicated an uneven online presence and a relative reluctance to use the respective course-embedded technology.
These results, together with class observations and interaction with students, as well as a growing attention paid to the influence of Facebook on students' behaviour, prompted the authors to investigate into similarities and differences between the current learning environment and Facebook in terms of potential for improving motivation, engagement, and learning outcomes. The purpose of the present study is to build, pilot and validate (by using the validity-reliability method) a questionnaire aimed at exploring motivation, frequency and ease-of-use, and type of activities performed on two particular social media, namely a wiki and Facebook. Students' perception of the usefulness of extending the learning environment to Facebook will be also investigated. Brief interviews will complete the quantitative data and study data obtained with social network analysis. The findings are expected to highlight benefits and challenges of using social media for learning and point out ways to improve pedagogical design to allow for an enhanced student engagement and for the design of a future experiment for the in-depth study of student success.
A NEW APPROCH IN CURRICULUM PLANNING FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS
Authors: Ghenghea Voichita alexandra
Published: February 2023

With respect to the changing profile of the engineer in a globalized world, the author believes that teaching specialized languages at technical universities completes the study of future engineers and opens them doors to an international career.
Students should be made aware of their responsibility towards ensuring the effectiveness of knowledge transfer among laymen/endusers, who often have difficulty in understanding specialized texts. Therefore, an update of curriculum planning, made possible by the inclusion of a new course offer like Technical Documentation at the University ,,Politehnica" of Bucharest, is a timely requirement for technical universities in Romania, if we envisage a revised profile of the engineering qualification in the global labour market.
The author proceeds first to an empirical analysis of texts chosen: German and Romanian documentation, user manuals for electrical appliances, which are instructional texts placed at the interface between technology, marketing and public. They are considered from the viewpoint of intelligibility of discourse and from an intercultural perspective as well. The results confirm the working assumption that documentation should correspond to certain quality standards.
The author then describes various individual tasks students solve online in the German languge class, related on the one hand to websites of different companies and on the other hand to documentation of appliances these companies produce. Websites and user manuals are evaluated by students according to two checklists which enable them to differentiate between general vs. particular/intercultural features. Step by step they become aware of the way how knowledge transfer among endusers is performed and which are the means of improving it. In the long run both content and language skills are improved and they may constitute the premisses of a successful start as an engineer.
UNDERSTANDING OF OPTICS PHENOMENA BY BUILDING MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL MODELS
Authors: Marciuc Daly , Csereoka Petra , Miron Cristina
Published: February 2023

Using computational technology to support in-depth understanding of complex physical phenomena represents an opportunity in the current educational practice. Harnessing powerful but affordable technology enables teaching concepts and mathematical models otherwise more difficult to explain. The teacher of Physics has the chance to perform their work of teaching not only as a Science but also as an Art, in their striving to initiate pupils in the alphabet of Science. The objective of teaching activities is not confined to mere scientific literacy, but also to transmit the joy of understanding the world we live in, and to raise the interest for study and research. In this paper, we show how some spectacular optical phenomena can be understood in depth by the students, through recourse to the mathematical language of Physics. In our approach, the computer becomes, together with the teacher, a key mediator in the process of understanding complex mathematical relations by the students. The activities presented in this paper were carried out at the Centre of Excellence of Satu Mare, with students of the interdisciplinary study group who are involved in inquiry based learning, by the creation and the use of computer models in the study of Science. The computer applications that have been used in our activities, namely the educational software Cinderella and GeoGebra, are free and allow an appropriate implementation of various mathematical models. The purpose of our research is to discover new ways of using computational technologies in education, whereby a greater number of students can understand the principles of scientific inquiry, becoming interested and passionate about Science.
INTERACTIVE LESSON FOR STUDYING KNITTED FABRICS WITH TUCK PATTERNS
Authors: Blaga Mirela , Ciobanu Ana ramona , Dan Dorin , Farima Daniela
Published: February 2023

Knitting is one of the most exciting textile technologies, due to its endless potential for various applications, from fashion industry to medical, industry, geotextiles, car upholstery ones. Knitting technologies are various and achieveing competencies in knitting products development is not an easy task for the enrolled students in the textile field. On the other hand, the level of competencies required from the textile engineers by the rapidly knitting industry progress, is high. Therefore, the higher education in the field must be strong correlated with the industry level and with the requests for high qualified personnel. In this context, the tutors must be creative in developing teaching and evaluating tools, for assesing the technical knowledge acquired by the students. Interactive lessons have been introduced to the learners, to provide them a sustainable training, independent of knitting and CAD laboratory and to meet their own studying rhythm. The relevant skills that students should achieve at laboratory classes for CAD knitting technology are concerning the design preparation with professional software, programming the design, design processing, setting the knitting parameters and manufacturing the fabric.

The paper highlights an interactive lesson, organised as an comprehensive guide for studying in details the group of weft knits with tuck patterns, produced on electronic flat knitting machines. Weft knitting represents a method of making a fabric by forming rows of stitches across its width, from the same yarn. In terms of work for fashion or technical applications, the tucks patterns demonstrate a good potential for design and functionality given to a product. Tuck stiches make the basic knit fabric wider, thicker and slightly less elastic. Tucks are usually patterned to increase fabric weight and thickness, to insert yarns difficult to knit, to knit-in intarsia yarns, to shorten long jacquard floats. The content of the laboratory class is covered by text information, drawings, flash animations of the loop formation, simulation of the knitted structure and demonstrative videos. This particular application deals with the: classification of weft knit patterns, principle of producing tuck stitches, design potential of tucks and applications of these fabrics. A self-assessment stage of the knowledge acquired during the course is completing the e-learning content, by using tests based on 'drag-and-drop" and "multiple choice" methods, reflecting thus the knowledge level, as an individual study result. The application is available for the students in html format, on the moodle paltform: http://www.moodle.tex.tuiasi.ro, and it is part of the module of "Advanced Knitting Technologies", developed within the project Adan2Tex, financed through the program Erasmus Plus, for supporting the professionals in the textile industry.
OPEN SOURCE ELEARNING PLATFORMS AND SOFTWARE FOR ONLINE TEXTILE ENGINEERING LEARNING
Authors: Buhu Adrian , Buhu Liliana
Published: February 2023

Since late 2012, there has been conversation about the overlap between the LMS and MOOC platform markets. While most of the edtech community continues to focus on the major MOOC platforms (e.g.: Coursera and EdX), each of the major LMS makers now has a solution for teaching MOOCs as well. For example, Blackboard's Course Sites has offered "open enrollment" courses since April 2012, the very month Coursera was founded, although the organization's official press didn't mention the acronym "MOOC" until early/mid 2013. Moodle held a MOOC on their LMS MOOC platform called Learn Moodle on September 2013. LMS-based MOOC platforms offer a unique opportunity for instructors. Rather than having to rebuild course content within the walls of Coursera or EdX or entering into new, complex legal agreements, these platforms jump start the course delivery experience and can even use the native export/import tools of institutional LMSs to bring existing course content into a familiar LMS product. Similarly, taking a MOOC on an LMS MOOC platform can give instructors another unique experience - that of using a traditional LMS as a student. The most popular e-learning platform in 2014 are: Moodle, Blackboard, Kenexo, Digitalchalk, eFront, .LRN, Dokeos, Sakai, etc. Some of these are free, almost free and some have freemium options available for educators. In this article is presented front open source solution for creating an LMS MOOC platform. This platform is faster and more user-friendly, while being certified SCORM. eFront comes with a set of features to create content, tests, assessments, track progress, issue certifications and add-ons to support wikis, blogs, YouTube videos, picture lists, F. A. Q's, external links, etc.
CAD APPLICATIONS FOR COMPOUND WOVEN FABRICS
Authors: Cristian Irina , Piroi Cristina
Published: February 2023

Woven fabrics consist of at least two sets of yarns (warp and weft) that are interlaced at right angles to each other. The woven structures that only contain two systems of yarns are called simple woven fabrics, while those that include at least 3 systems are considered compound structures. There are many structural variants of compound woven fabrics (double/triple/multiple compact structures, spacer fabrics etc.). The structural characteristics of each structure induce specific properties that enable them to be used in art and design applications, but also in industries such as engineering, aerospace, automotive, biomedical, leisure etc.
Compound woven fabrics (principally produced by the multiple-warp weaving method) have long been used for the manufacturing of double and triple cloths for bags, webbings and carpets. Nowadays, due to superior mechanical properties, the use of compound woven fabrics as technical textiles and especially as a reinforcing medium for composites is becoming a popular choice.
As a result, some of the CAD producers which were, until recently, mainly oriented towards developing software applications for simple woven fabric design, started to pay more attention to this subject offering performing software solutions for the design of compound woven structure.
This paper presents the main CAD solutions available on the market in this field (TexGen, WiseTex, ScotWeave, 3D Weave) and focuses on the TexM software, a learning-oriented solution for compound woven fabrics design, created by researchers from Faculty of Textile-Leather and Industrial Management of Iasi, Romania. In comparison to the other aforementioned software, TexM makes use of a sectioning method to obtain a graphic representation of the weave structure in each layer. TexM is now used for some time and the excellent results of the students confirm the usefulness of this kind of educational software in understanding the structure of compound woven fabric.
CAMPUS INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCING QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE IN A SMART CITY HIGH EDUCATION ENVIRONMENT
Authors: Chichernea Virgil , Smedescu Dan
Published: February 2023

The University's mission is "to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence". The dynamic evolution of a smart city along the six main dimensions (smart economy, smart people, smart mobility, smart environment, smart living and smart governance) requires a complicated combination of complex projects for Higher Education at both the global and local levels (Government and Universities, respectively). The Academic World in a smart city uses Information Technologies (IT) to enhance the quality, relevance and performance of learning services, to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to engage more effectively and actively with its students, professors and staff.
One key way of achieving this, in line with the EU policy, is to exploit the transformational benefits of IT and other new technologies in order to enrich teaching, improve learning experiences and support personification learning. The Campus Information System (CIS), as a wireless networking and security solution, provides students open access, automates student device registration to streamline access, enables anytime/anywhere learning with wireless access and enhances learning and participation with classroom controls. Mobile learning solutions extend the learning environment to improve productivity and operational efficiency for higher education.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between e-Learning Platforms, Management Information Systems and Marketing Information Systems as components of the Campus Information System (CIS) concept. The current study provides a suite of cloud based software solutions for educational institutions including: Community and Vocational Colleges, Continuing and Community Education, Professional Development, Workforce Training and Lifelong Learning Departments, Online Training Businesses, Corporate Universities and Government and provides detail discussion and suggestions for future research.
AN APPROACH ABOUT TURNING CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES USING INTERNET OF THINGS
Authors: Georgescu Mircea , Hucanu Roxana
Published: February 2023

The Internet of Things is almost a new paradigm that is revolutionizing not only our society but also our entire life. Like any growing industry the Internet of Things it is in a continuous growth being a part of the Internet of the future. The concept of Internet of Things means a structure of physical objects or "things" that have Internet connections, sensors, software and electronic components, which collect and distributes data. The number of objects it is also growing year by year so, each object have one or more embedded sensors that can capture huge amounts of data, data to be stored, processed and communicated with a reduced human intervention.
The building blocks of IoT vision are the smart things - objects around us, not necessarily visible, being connected in order to provide seamless communication and contextual services, able to respond to their internal states and/or to external factors, to sense, compute and integrate with the surrounding environment. IoT is a fabric of numerous connections between things and between humans and things, potentially more complex and dynamic than the Internet of People.
In the same time, the development of Internet of Things (IoT) give rise to a number of security-related and ethical issues which gain a new dimension in the light of the increased complexity of these technologies.
This paper discusses emerging Sensing as a Service as a business model of Internet of Things, large scale sensor network application, sensor data and related context capturing techniques and processing of sensor data.
RETHINKING EDUCATION WITH COGNITIVE MAPS
Authors: Samarescu Nicoleta
Published: February 2023

Rethinking education with cognitive maps

The Romanian education captures electronic models (ideea map, mind map, mind tools, concept map, cognitive models, tools for the mind) on a daily basis which it transforms into real teaching-learning-assessment tools because they proved they can develop creativity, can stimulate the introvert students, can help the faster retaining of information, can communicate thinking essences, can generate new mental connections. Thus, this study, which is based on an ampler research, also synthesizes along with the learning theories which support the new technologies the electronic models which incorporate cognitive diagrams, conceptual maps, graphics, animated elements,SmartArt, ecuations, symbols, spreadsheets, hyperlink. Having an integrative structure which is easier to memorize, they will enhance the sensitivity level of receiving the new information, will increase the stimulation, imagination and enthusiasm indices, will redefine the teacher-student relation. The newly implemented techniques - taking into account the recommendations of the practitioners in the field - may increase the level of involvement in the collective activities, may improve the educational process "globally". Then the article presents the stages of drawing up a cognitive map (mode of conception, layout, colouring, mode of selecting the image and key words used etc.), with application in the mathematical activities within the primary and pre-school education. Therefore, the following are of great importance: mode of conception, mode of integration at the level of the class and the mode of using the cognitive maps.
Therefore, the following are of great importance: mode of conception, mode of integration at the level of the class and the mode of using the cognitive maps.
SERIOUS GAMES DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK A FUNCTIONAL MODEL
ON FLOOD SITUATIONS
Authors: Scaeteanu Ionut , Malureanu Adriana
Published: February 2023

The changes that games have undergone during the 20th Century paved the way to modern eSports, or representations of the real world in the digital environment. Nowadays, market economies and profit-oriented strategies have taken over the economic environment. In this context, the eSports market and its unbelievable potential revenue couldn't have remained unnoticed.
Video games comprise a wide range of genres, including "serious games", which have an educational purpose.
The Serious Games industry has its own historians. Among them is Oliver Grau, who talks about "prehistorical" games. According to him, the history of video games begins with the invention of arcade machines, which have changed a lot over time, but are still based on the same principles.
Not only do Serious Games entertain people, but they also serve educational purposes. The "Serious Games" title was adopted in Romania, too, to express and highlight their usefulness. These virtual simulations of circumstances that are more or less likely to occur in real life can be used in many fields, including those of education, industry, defense, heath, scientific research, projection, management, and politics.
In the early 2000s, these activities were defined as "games that do not have entertainment, enjoyment or fun as their primary purpose".
The first educational games consisted of sports competitions and board games. The concept then evolved to modern computer simulations. A great difference between Serious Games and other type of games is that the former are tailored to fit clients' needs and serve a predetermined purpose. They are not meant for the retail market, as clients - companies, local authorities, etc - decide how the applications look like, the purpose that they serve and their target audience. Serious Games are valuable assets in training and educating employees all over the world.
The modern science of building and simulating real situations in virtual environments is a relatively new one, dating back to the early 2000s. Although this field has given rise to skeptical reactions from people who doubt that games can go beyond entertainment, an increasing number of important organizations use Serious Games as a training method. This confirms the idea that learning in the 21st Century has to keep up with the times.
VISUAL PROGRAMMING FOR TEACHING STATISTICAL MODELING AND SIMULATION
Authors: Tudorica Daniela
Published: February 2023

Teaching disciplines involving mathematical modeling, simulation, statistics and data analysis can be approached in an attractive manner for students (from specialization such as Informatics) if the teacher appeals to visual programming environments. For statistical modeling and simulation, programming skills allow implementation of Windows applications with user friendly interface, with graphical representations and easy to interpret results. The objective of this paper is to present the facilities of a modern visual programming environment (Microsoft Visual C#), for teaching in an attractive way applications for generating random variables, statistical indicators calculation or empirical probabilities calculation.
As a case study is presented the development of an application that models a real-life problem. It is considered that the time (in years) of operation for an equipment has a negative exponential distribution of parameter lambda. We are interested in mean time of functioning and the probability that an equipment will function properly after a number of years. In a first step, using visual components, graphical interface of the application is built. Using methods for generating random variables (inverse method or rejection method) there are simulated functioning times with a negative exponential distribution. Some statistical indicators, such as mean or variance are calculated and the probability of various events are calculated empirically by approximation with frequency. Values obtained through modeling and simulation are compared with theoretical values (mean, frequency, percentile).
The research concludes that a visual programming environment has tools that allow a programmer implementation of more complex applications than those generally made using a specialized software for statistical analysis.
ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF LEARNING ACTIVITIES THROUGH BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE TYPE TOOLS
Authors: Andronie Mihai
Published: February 2023

Business intelligence techniques and tools are used more and more in all the domains of human activity, being able to bring to light new information from the volumes of data that are gathered from the activities carried on. In the educational domain, as in other fields of activity, business intelligence tools can be employed with success.
The current paper aims to analyze the impact of learning activities, based on data available related to a number of courses that were carried on over a period of three years (October 2010 - September 2013).
The large majority of the courses was carried on through a European funded project and was aimed to develop the entrepreneurship competences of the participants through relatively short term trainings (24 hours spread over several days - 20 hours theoretical activities and 4 hours practical activities).
Related to these courses, the available database consists of information related to the participant's background and the courses followed by them, with the outcomes of the courses (for example businesses started after graduation).
Among the analysis that can be performed based on the available database are: participants starting a business by age; participants starting a business by field of study / level of education; participants starting a business by region / county of residence/ place of residence; participants starting a business by status on the labor market.
The conclusions of the study can be useful to different learning organizations that carry on entrepreneurship and other training courses in order to optimize their activities and better select the participants to maximize the impact of the learning programs they are offering.
PULSATING MULTILAYER PERCEPTRON
Authors: Pupezescu Valentin
Published: February 2023

The Knowledge Discovery in Databases represents the process of extracting useful information from data that are stored in real databases. The Knowledge Discovery in Databases process consists of multiple steps which include selection target data from raw data, preprocessing, data transformation, Data Mining and interpretation of mined data. As we see, the Data Mining is one step from the whole process and it will perform one of these Data Mining task: classification, regression, clustering, association rules, summarization, dependency modelling, change and deviation detection. In this experiments I used one neural network(multilayer perceptron) that performs the classification task. This paper proposes a functioning model for the classical multilayer perceptron that is a sequential simulation of a Distributed Committee Machine. Committee Machines are a group of neural structures that work in a distributed manner as a group in order to obtain better classification results than individual neural networks. The classical backpropagation algorithm is modified in order to simulate the execution of multiple multilayer perceptrons that run in a sequential manner. The classification was made for three standard data sets: iris1, wine1 and conc1. In my case the backpropagation algorithm still consists of three well known stages: the feedforward of the input training pattern, the calculation of the associated output error, and the correction of the weights. The proposed model makes a twist for the classical backpropagation algorithm meaning that all the weights of the multilayer perceptron will be reset and randomly regenerated after a certain number of training epochs. This model will have a pulsating effect that will also prevent the blockage of the perceptron on poor local minimum points. This research is useful in the Knowledge Discovery in Databases process because the classification gets the same performance results as in the case of a Distributed Committee Machine.
TAKING THE PULSE OF THE CLASSROOM WITH RESPONSE TECHNOLOGY
Authors: Stoica George adrian , Pein Raoul pascal
Published: February 2023

The core goal of response technology is to facilitate gathering the input from a large audience. The results should be available to the presenter fast enough and in a form that allows further use in the dialogue with that audience. Obviously, there are many ways to achieve this and even more methods for using the obtained instant feedback. The technology is trying to establish a dialogue between lecturer and audience instead of having a unidirectional communication.
In the last two and a half decades the response technology has been gradually adopted in educational settings at various levels and in several fields. There are many terms used to describe the response technology systems but they normally fall into one of the following broad categories: voting systems and clickers - based on proprietary hardware and communication, online and mobile based response systems - based on standard data networks and leveraging existing hardware and software and finally mixed systems that combine both approaches.
This paper presents a short introduction to response technology in general and then it focuses on one2act response technology tools and in special the Student Response System (SRS). SRS is concerned with obtaining instant feedback from the students during the class. The system can use students' own smart-phones, tablets or laptops as interaction tools.
HiST has over the past years developed tools which utilize existing infrastructure (e.g. wi-fi) to gather feedback from students, both in-class and outside of classes. Considerable research has gone into developing methods which allow the teacher to harness student feedback to achieve effective teaching.
Feedback facilitates ownership of the learning process, in the sense that it enables students to become active actors in their own learning process, with the teacher as a guide and facilitator. Students get to see that they can influence the learning process, which in turn has the effect of increasing their engagement with the activities.
When used for in-class quizzes or tests, response technology can be used to quickly uncover misunderstandings and misconceptions, and then let the teacher provide feedback and corrective actions at a time when the students are most receptive to learn. Students can be engaged in peer learning processes which let share and reflect on concepts and learning strategies.
The paper ends with a discussion about challenges in adopting response technology and influence on the teaching methods.