Shaping Hybrid Collaborating Organizations

This chapter explores the major lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, which has strongly influenced collaboration in almost all private and public organizations. Hybrid collaboration refers to the balance between onsite and remote collaboration in such a way that organizational performance, employee involvement and innovativeness can be optimized. When we focus on different levels of aggregation, it is proposed that different balances of hybrid work collaboration are needed at the level of teams, the internal organization, and the organization in relation to its external stakeholders (ecosystem). Such a hybrid collaborating organization requires a multidisciplinary understanding and effort in which (top) management, employees, and other internal and external stakeholders share knowledge, interact, and work together to generate benefits, both tangible and intangible, that an organization can provide to what relevant stakeholders actually value. In conclusion, some dilemmas that most organizations have to deal with during their journey toward shaping hybrid collaboration organizations will be discussed. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

A joint and simultaneous prediction framework of weekday and weekend daily-activity travel pattern using conditional dependency networks

Daily activity pattern (DAP) prediction models within the Activity-based Modelling paradigm are being currently developed without adequate consideration of the various interdependencies among activities within a multi-day planning horizon. We hereby propose a conditional dependency network structure based interdependent multilabel-multiclass classification framework for joint and simultaneous prediction of weekday and weekend DAP of an individual. The prime advantage of the proposed modelling framework is flexibility of application of any algorithm for parameter estimation. Random Forest Decision Tree (RFDT), eXtreme Gradient Boosting and Light Gradient Boosting Machine (LightGBM) as the base classifier and probabilistic and non-probabilistic inference approaches are explored for measuring their comparative performance to provide insights for future researchers. Several variables representing neighbourhood characteristics are also investigated as DAP de-terminants along with socio-economic characteristics of individuals for the first time.This model is estimated based on two-days (weekday and weekend) activity-travel diary of 1808 households (6521 individuals) in Bidhanangar Municipal Corporation, India. The non-probabilistic approach-based models are found to achieve higher accuracy (0.81-0.92) compared to probabilistic models (0.76 to 0.82). RFDT and LightGBM are found to be the best performers in the probabilistic and non-probabilistic frameworks respectively. External validation results show that all proposed multiday-interdependent models (80%-94%) perform better than independent models (64%-83%).This framework can be applied to other transportations planning problems like household interaction in ac-tivity generation, joint destination and mode choice. This is also one of the first attempts to investigate the determinants of DAPs of urban commuters in an emerging country like India.

Effect of Hybrid Workstyles on Productivity of Workers in an Activity-Based Office

This study investigated the effect of hybrid working on the productivity and environmental satisfaction in an activity-based office. Activity-based working is a work style in which workers choose where and when they work. Offices that introduced this concept are known as activity-based offices. To prevent the transmission of COVID-19, hybrid working has become common in Japan after the declaration of the state of emergency. We conducted three surveys in an activity-based office, before, during, and after the state of emergency. The results showed that hybrid working improved workers' perceived productivity. However, the results were influenced by whether the workers valued working with team members at the same location. Workers who valued on-site collaboration saw their productivity decline at home since they found it difficult to communicate. In contrast, others reported higher productivity at home since they found it easier to concentrate, mainly due to the sound environment. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

An analysis of convalescent plasma unit cost calculation using time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) method

Introduction: The viral pneumonia disease covid-19 is currently becoming a pandemic throughout the world due to SARS-CoV-2. With a lack of therapy choices for covid-19, convalescent plasma therapy was considered an emergency intervention in some countries. Convalescent plasma was, by unit cost, the most expensive service at the laboratory of Dolopo Hospital, thus easy, practical, and efficient calculation of unit cost was needed. This research aims to analyze the unit cost of convalescent plasma as calculated using the Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) method and to examine the difference between the unit cost of convalescent plasma calculated using the TDABC with the real cost at Dolopo Hospital. Methods: This qualitative research used a case study approach. The primary data were obtained through observation of convalescent plasma activity, and the secondary data were obtained through interviews related to the data of convalescent plasma cost. Results: The convalescent plasma unit cost calculated based on the TDABC method was IDR2,287,675 and on real cost was IDR2,250,000. The result of the calculation using the TDABC method was higher than the real cost calculation by IDR36.765. Conclusion: The research results showed that cost analysis using the TDABC method resulted in a more detailed and accurate calculation that the calculation was activity and time-based. © 2023, Sanglah General Hospital. All rights reserved.

COVID-19: Modeling Out-of-Home and In-Home Activity Participation during the Pandemic.

Understanding the interaction between in-home and out-of-home activity participation decisions is important, particularly at a time when opportunities for out-of-home activities such as shopping, entertainment, and so forth are limited because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The travel restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic have had a massive impact on out-of-home activities and have changed in-home activities as well. This study investigates in-home and out-of-home activity participation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data comes from the COVID-19 Survey for assessing Travel impact (COST), conducted from March to May in 2020. This study uses data for the Okanagan region of British Columbia, Canada to develop the following two models: a random parameter multinomial logit (RPMNL) model for out-of-home activity participation and a hazard-based random parameter duration (HRPD) model for in-home activity participation. The model results suggest that significant interactions exist between out-of-home and in-home activities. For example, a higher frequency of out-of-home work-related travel is more likely to result in a shorter duration of in-home work activities. Similarly, a longer duration of in-home leisure activities might yield a lower likelihood for recreational travel. Health care workers are more likely to engage in work-related travel and less likely to participate in personal and household maintenance activities at home. The model confirms heterogeneity among the individuals. For instance, a shorter duration of in-home online shopping yields a higher probability for participation in out-of-home shopping activity. This variable shows significant heterogeneity with a large standard deviation, which reveals that sizable variation exists for this variable.

Hospital at Home: Paying for What It's Worth

Am J Manag Care. 2021;27(9):369-371. https://doi.org/10.37765/ajmc.2021.88739 _____ Takeaway Points A framework centered around cost, quality, and equity is essential to define the value of hospital-at-home programs. * Validated disease-specific tools should be consistently used to measure process metrics, outcome metrics, quality-of-life measures, and caregiver satisfaction measures. * Equity-focused process metrics, care utilization measures, and risk-adjusted outcome metrics should be reported. * Total costs of care for hospital-at-home programs should be consistently measured through a time-driven activity-based costing method. * Personal, societal, technical, and allocative value should be considered when determining the value of hospital-at-home programs. _____ In recent years, home health care has grown to 3% of overall US health care spending.1 Investment in home health care delivery including telemedicine grew considerably during the COVID-19 pandemic.2 One area that has lagged in terms of growth has been the hospital-at-home model. For home health agencies (different from hospital-at-home programs, which provide more acute care services), CMS uses a more comprehensive Home Health Quality Reporting process to assess risk-adjusted process measures, outcomes measures, occurrences of adverse events, utilization of care measures, and cost measures.9 After the COVID-19 pandemic, similar reporting processes should be implemented for measuring the quality and outcomes of hospital-at-home programs. Because hospital-at-home programs share features of both inpatient hospital admissions and home health agencies, they are uniquely positioned to both treat the patient acutely and improve the living conditions and resources that led to the acute illness. The American Heart Association's Get With the Guidelines – Heart Failure, an in-hospital program, describes a comprehensive, robust set of quality measurements including process and outcome measurements for heart failure management.11 Process metrics include assessment of left ventricular ejection fraction, adherence to guideline-recommended medical therapy at discharge, and scheduled follow-up;process metrics correlate well to high-quality heart failure care.12 Outcome metrics include 30-day mortality and 30-day readmission rates.12 Although hospital-at-home programs have been associated with lower costs, these cost reductions are mostly due to reduced length of hospitalization,13 number of consultations,14 and clinical testing.13 It is yet unclear if the reduction in services utilized also leads to a reduction in value for the patient—either through fewer completed process metrics or significantly increased caregiver burden. Of 34 studies included in a meta-analysis comparing the costs of hospital at home with those of hospitalizations, 32 studies found hospital at home to cost less.3 For example, in a recent randomized controlled trial evaluating patients treated in a hospital-at-home program compared with those treated in a traditional hospital, the risk-adjusted cost reduction of home care management was 19%.15 In this trial, costs were calculated by summing the costs of labor, equipment, medications, laboratory tests, imaging tests, and transport during the period of hospitalization.15 In hospital-at-home models, cost savings are thought to be achieved due to reduced length of hospitalization,13 decreased number of consultations,14 reduced nursing labor costs,15 and decreased clinical testing.13 However, no uniform method exists to track and assess costs,16 and there is worry that the costs of hospital-at-home programs are underestimated.17 To fill this gap, these programs should report and analyze the total costs of care—including costs incurred by patients and their caregivers—rather than simply the reimbursement rates for care.

Discovery of Potent Pyrazoline-Based Covalent SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease Inhibitors.

While vaccines and antivirals are now being deployed for the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, we require additional antiviral therapeutics to not only effectively combat SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, but also future coronaviruses. All coronaviruses have relatively similar genomes that provide a potential exploitable opening to develop antiviral therapies that will be effective against all coronaviruses. Among the various genes and proteins encoded by all coronaviruses, one particularly "druggable" or relatively easy-to-drug target is the coronavirus Main Protease (3CLpro or Mpro), an enzyme that is involved in cleaving a long peptide translated by the viral genome into its individual protein components that are then assembled into the virus to enable viral replication in the cell. Inhibiting Mpro with a small-molecule antiviral would effectively stop the ability of the virus to replicate, providing therapeutic benefit. In this study, we have utilized activity-based protein profiling (ABPP)-based chemoproteomic approaches to discover and further optimize cysteine-reactive pyrazoline-based covalent inhibitors for the SARS-CoV-2 Mpro. Structure-guided medicinal chemistry and modular synthesis of di- and tri-substituted pyrazolines bearing either chloroacetamide or vinyl sulfonamide cysteine-reactive warheads enabled the expedient exploration of structure-activity relationships (SAR), yielding nanomolar potency inhibitors against Mpro from not only SARS-CoV-2, but across many other coronaviruses. Our studies highlight promising chemical scaffolds that may contribute to future pan-coronavirus inhibitors.

Influence of dynamic changes of workplace on organisational culture

Challenged by the effects of organisational flexibility and high corporate real estate costs, organisations are increasingly seeking flexibility and operational efficiency in their office spaces. To date, the literature relating to flexible office spaces has focused mainly on their physical characteristics. The full effects of such spaces on human reactions and the corporate culture of organisations are less understood. The objective of this paper is to examine the influence of introducing activity-based working (ABW) on existing organisational culture. It was addressed from the perspective of the management of large corporate organisations. A mixed-method research that included a qualitative approach followed by a quantitative approach was adopted. The first stage included semistructured interviews with 19 large organisations who had introduced flexible layouts. The second stage involved a questionnaire survey of 32 organisations which had experienced office layout changes. Findings identify that the nature of workplace designs has a considerable impact on the corporate culture of an organisation and can be used to leverage and change its culture. Workplace designs directly influence culture by supporting the systems, symbols, engagement/motivation and behaviours of the organisation and employees. However, some differences between the perceptions of public and private organisations were identified. In conclusion, office layouts are artefacts that can either support, or change, the existing organisational culture. Therefore, the critical achievement of workspace design is to integrate the cultures, values and behaviours of organisations to meet their ultimate goals.

Activity-Based Learning: An Analysis to Teach Learners Using Online Methodologies

Activity-based learning is one of the most trending methodology of learning. It is a teaching methodology which enables a learner to learn as per his or her natural pace using a series of activities which is more interactive, engaging and beneficial for young learners. It also has the facility of monitoring and evaluating the activities. However, the online activity-based learning became a new mode of teaching during the COVID-19 when the entire world went under lockdown. The situation was indeed very difficult for everyone to make their ends meet during that time. People were not allowed to come out of their homes except to purchase the daily needs. All the educational institutions including schools, colleges and universities were shut down for an indefinite period. The faculties were left with no other alternative but to take classes through online mode. This was a challenging task not only for students but also for the teachers. Therefore, the basic objective of the paper would be to discuss about the effectiveness of the implementation of activity-based learning through online mode and how far it has succeeded in creating an impact among the trainers as well as the learners. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Comparison of COVID-19 hospitalization costs across care pathways: a patient-level time-driven activity-based costing analysis in a Brazilian hospital.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic raised awareness of the need to better understand where and how patient-level costs are incurred in health care organizations, as health managers and other decision-makers need to plan and quickly adapt to the increasing demand for health care services to meet patients' care needs. Time-driven activity-based costing offers a better understanding of the drivers of cost throughout the care pathway, providing information that can guide decisions on process improvement and resource optimization. This study aims to estimate COVID-19 patient-level hospital costs and to evaluate cost variability considering the in-hospital care pathways of COVID-19 management and the patient clinical classification. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study that applied time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) in a Brazilian reference center for COVID-19. Patients hospitalized during the first wave of the disease were selected for their data to be analyzed to estimate in-hospital costs. The cost information was calculated at the patient level and stratified by hospital care pathway and Ordinal Scale for Clinical Improvement (OSCI) category. Multivariable analyses were applied to identify predictors of cost variability in the care pathways that were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 208 patients were included in the study. Patients followed five different care pathways, of which Emergency + Ward was the most followed (n = 118, 57%). Pathways which included the intensive care unit presented a statistically significant influence on costs per patient (p <  0.001) when compared to Emergency + Ward. The median cost per patient was I$2879 (IQR 1215; 8140) and mean cost per patient was I$6818 (SD 9043). The most expensive care pathway was the ICU only, registering a median cost per patient of I$13,519 (IQR 5637; 23,373) and mean cost per patient of I$17,709 (SD 16,020). All care pathways that included the ICU unit registered a higher cost per patient. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first microcosting study for COVID-19 that applied the TDABC methodology and demonstrated how patient-level costs vary as a function of the care pathways followed by patients. These findings can be used to develop value reimbursement strategies that will inform sustainable health policies in middle-income countries such as Brazil.

Accounting, valuing and investing in health care: dealing with outdated accounting models

PurposeDespite major progress made in improving the health and well-being of millions of people, more efforts are needed for investment in 21st century health care. However, public hospital waiting lists continue to grow. At the same time, there has been increased investment in e-health and digital interventions to enhance population health and reduce hospital admissions. The purpose of this study is to highlight the accounting challenges associated with measuring, investing and accounting for value in this setting. The authors argue that this requires more nuanced performance metrics that effect a shift from a technical practice to one that embraces social and moral values.Design/methodology/approachThis research is based on field interviews held with clinicians, accountants and administrators in public hospitals throughout Australia and Europe. The field research and multidisciplinary narratives offer insights and issues relating to value and valuing and managing digital health investment decisions for the post-COVID-19 "value-based health-care” future of accounting in the hospital setting.FindingsThe authors find that the complex activity-based hospital funding models operate as a black box, with limited clinician understanding and hybridised accounting expertise for informed social, moral and ethical decision-making. While there is malleability of the health economics-derived activity-based hospital funding models, value contestation and conflict are evident in the operationalisation of these models in practice. Activity-based funding (ABF) mechanisms reward patient throughput volumes in hospitals but at the same time stymie investment in digital health. Although classified as strategic investments, there is a limit to strategic planning.Research limitations/implicationsAccounting in public hospitals has become increasingly visible and contested during the pandemic-driven health-care crisis. Further research is required to examine the hybridising accounting expertise as it is increasingly implicated in the incremental changes to ABF in the emergence of value-based health care and associated digital health investment strategies. Despite operationalising these health economic models in practice, accountants are currently being blamed for dysfunctional health-care decisions. Further education for practicing accountants is required to effect operational change. This includes education on the significant moral and ethical dilemmas that result from accounting for patient mix choices in public hospital service provision.Originality/valueThis research involved a multidisciplinary team from accounting, digital health, information systems, value-based health care and clinical expertise. Unique insights on the move to digital health care are provided. This study contributes to policy development and the limited value-based health-care literature in accounting.

Contribution of Continuous Virtual Monitoring to Hospital Safety, Quality, and Value of Care for COVID-19 Patients.

Introduction: The rapid onset of the COVID-19 pandemic increased hospital admissions and shortages for personal protective equipment (PPE) used to slow the spread of infections. In addition, nurses treating COVID-19 patients have time-consuming guidelines to properly don and doff PPE to prevent the spread. Methods: To address these issues, the Medical University of South Carolina repurposed continuous virtual monitoring (CVM) systems to reduce the need for staff to enter patient rooms. The objective of this study was to identify the economic implications associated with using the CVM program for COVID-19 patients. We employed a time-driven activity-based costing approach to determine time and costs saved by implementing CVM. Results: Over the first 52 days of the pandemic, the use of the CVM system helped providers attend to patients needs virtually while averting 19,086 unnecessary in-person interactions. The estimated cost savings for the CVM program for COVID-19 patients in 2020 were $419,319, not including potential savings from avoided COVID-19 transmissions to health care workers. A total of 19,086 PPE changes were avoided, with savings of $186,661. After accounting for cost of the CVM system, the net savings provided an outstanding return on investment of 20.6 for the CVM program for COVID-19 patient care. Conclusion: The successful and cost saving repurposing of CVM systems could be expanded to other infectious disease applications, and be applied to high-risk groups, such as bone marrow and organ transplant patients.

Activity Based Remote Health Monitoring System

Healthcare sectors are majorly moving towards Remote Health Monitoring Systems (RHMS) after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak across the world. RHMS involves monitoring the patient's vital parameters remotely and providing advice and consultation online. Alerts are generated whenever a particular health parameter exceeds the threshold and sent to the medical officers for further actions. However, it is observed that these thresholds are applicable only when a patient is at rest and can change drastically during patient's physical activity such as walking, climbing the staircase, during exercise etc., which can mislead in understanding the patient's health condition. Hence there is a requirement to correlate these parameter values with the current activity the patient is in and to generate activity-based dynamic thresholds. In this paper, a method to correlate the sensor values with physical activities is proposed. The activity-based RHMS (aRHMS) uses the motion sensors available in the patient's smartphone to predict the activity and will automatically adjust the threshold values in co-relation with the activities and provides alarms/alerts accordingly. © 2022 IEEE.

Comparison of the Unit Cost of Diagnostic Imaging Services Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic Using the Activity-Based Costing (ABC) Method

Background: The consequences of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, especially the financial burden imposed on the healthcare systems and hospitals, have been unpredictable around the world. Radiology wards have been exposed to the highest burden during this pandemic. Objective(s): This study aimed to calculate the cost of diagnostic imaging services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, using the activity-based costing (ABC) method in an important diagnostic center of COVID-19 in Khorramabad, Iran. Patients and Methods: In this retrospective study, data were extracted from the hospital accounting sources in the radiology ward over two years (2019-2021). According to the ABC method, four types of cost were defined, including wage, supporting services, Consuming materials, and overhead expenses. Therefore, based on the monthly number of services, the unit cost of each service was calculated. Result(s): The unit cost of all services during the COVID-19 pandemic was higher than before, except for CT scan (before: 6.1 USD;during: 5.6 USD) (P = 0.008). The unit cost of MRI servicewas 5.7 USD before the pandemic and 7.1 USD during the pandemic (P = 0.57);the cost per radiography service was 1.8 USD before the pandemic and 7.1 USD during the pandemic (P = 0.01);and the cost per sonography service was 1.1 USD before the pandemic and 2.8 USD during the pandemic (P = 0.04). Finally, the cost of mammography increased dramatically during the pandemic (before the pandemic: 21.3 USD;during the pandemic: 48.2 USD) (P = 0.004). Conclusion(s): The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the radiology department expenses. The cost of CT scan services decreased due to the large number of services provided compared to the pre-pandemic period. Copyright © 2022, Author(s).

Characterization of the Ubiquitin and ISG15 Deconjugase Activity of SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 Papain-Like Protease.

Both severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 and 2 (SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2) encode a papain-like protease (PLpro), which plays a vital role in viral propagation. PLpro accomplishes this function by processing the viral polyproteins essential for viral replication and removing the small proteins, ubiquitin and ISG15 from the host's key immune signaling proteins, thereby preventing the host's innate immune response. Although PLpro from both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 are structurally highly similar (83% sequence identity), they exhibit functional variability. Hence, to further elucidate the mechanism and aid in drug discovery efforts, the biochemical and kinetic characterization of PLpro is needed. This chapter describes step-by-step experimental procedures for evaluating PLpro activity in vitro using activity-based probes (ABPs) along with fluorescence-based substrates. Herein we describe a step-by-step experimental procedure to assess the activity of PLpro in vitro using a suite of activity-based probes (ABPs) and fluorescent substrates and how they can be applied as fast and yet sensitive methods to calculate kinetic parameters.

What happens when post-secondary programmes go virtual for COVID-19? Effects of forced telecommuting on travel demand of post-secondary students during the pandemic.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads globally, disrupting every aspect of everyday activities. Countermeasures during the pandemic, such as remote working and learning, proliferated tele-activities worldwide during the COVID -19 pandemic. The prevalence of telecommuting could lead to new activity-travel patterns. It is in the interest of transport demand modellers to capture this developing trend of telecommuting using state-of-art travel demand forecasting techniques. This study develops a modelling framework using activity-based and agent-based microsimulation to forecast activity-travel demand considering telecommuting and the pandemic. For empirical application, the modelling framework investigates changes in travel behaviours in post-secondary students when all major post-secondary institutions in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), Canada, decided to go virtual during the pandemic. The empirical investigation reveals that enforced telecommuting and the pandemic caused significant mobility drops and shifts in students' trip starting time patterns. While only considering the influence of telecommuting, the empirical exercise reveals noteworthy dynamics between telecommuting and the overall travel demand. Telecommuting could simultaneously reduce the need to commute but also induce discretionary travel. When telecommuting is enforced, students' overall trip rates drop by 14.2%, despite increasing trip rates for all discretionary activities except shopping/market. Moreover, the study demonstrates that it is beneficial to model at-home productive and maintenance episodes when telecommuting is prominent.

DEVELOPMENT AND LESSONS LEARNED OF NEW MODULAR SHIP DESIGN ACTIVITES FOR GRADUATE EDUCATION DURING COVID

This paper describes two new modular ship design activities for graduate education at Delft University of Technology that have been developed during COVID. First, a new 2-hour hybrid format (in-person and virtual participation) game was designed to teach students modular design for offshore support vessels (OSVs). Second, an 8-week MSc-level ship design project was redeveloped to cover the design of a small fleet of modular OSVs for offshore wind. The paper discusses the drivers behind these new design educational activities, the details of the activities themselves, and concludes with lessons learned focused on improving graduate education for masters students studying ship design. © IMDC 2022. All right reserved.

Developing a Model for e-Learning Activities Based on Digital Incentives Within the Context of COVID-19 and its Effectiveness in Developing Meta-Cognitive Thinking Among Higher Education Students

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges that have affected the efficiency of practicing e-learning activities, and therefore the current study was directed towards developing a model for e-learning activities based on digital incentives, especially gamification-based incentives such as points, badges, levels, and leader boards, to stimulate meta-cognitive thinking processes for higher education students during the pandemic. The quasi-experimental approach was used to compare the two study groups, where the first experimental group used electronic activities based on digital incentives, while the second experimental group used electronic activities without any incentives. The study sample consisted of (60) students from the preparatory year in the computer skills course who are taking the “System Lifecycle” unit, and the study sample was randomly distributed into two experimental groups. A scale to measure meta-cognitive thinking was prepared for the nature of the study unit. The scale included three axes, namely planning, control, and assessment, and each axis might consist of (8) indicators, with a total of 24 indicators. The results showed the advantage and effectiveness of electronic activities based on digital incentives (points, badges, levels, and leaderboards) in developing meta-cognitive thinking skills, whether at the overall level or the level of each of the meta-cognitive axes, including planning, control, and monitoring. © 2022, International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning. All Rights Reserved.

Comparing Course Outcomes of Hybrid Delivery with Classroom-based Instruction in an Introductory Engineering Management Course

An undergraduate engineering management course for engineers was strategically implemented to allow greater agility through a hybrid delivery approach given the disruption and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The course reaches approximately 100 students per semester with the redesign focused on activity-based learning and increased flexibility. The goal was to provide a learning environment capable of agile delivery in the face of changing conditions while still meeting ABET learning outcomes. Results from sections from 2020 revealed strong student satisfaction, but no quantitative assessment was completed to determine how progress in learning outcomes compared to traditional classroom-based lectures. This research compares cross-sectional, preliminary performance in measured ABET outcomes between the hybrid section with a traditional classroom-based section. Sections from Spring 2020 through Fall 2021 are used in the comparison. End of course surveys and assessment data were also used to evaluate student satisfaction and inform future iterations for both courses. Hybrid delivery included expanded use of team case analyses, course pack activities covering concepts and terms, and increased summative assessments. The classroom-based section employed in-class clicker-based activities, formalized lectures presenting concepts and terms, and traditional exams. Mid-semester feedback mechanisms were used as part of the Hybrid course design and implemented as appropriate for the final half of the relevant semester. Results show that ABET thresholds were met for both hybrid and classroom-based delivery methods, with no notable differences. Student satisfaction as evidenced by end of course surveys was higher for the hybrid delivery section, with similar response rates. Enrollment in the hybrid section was higher when both formats were offered concurrently. Future work will consider longitudinal analysis of learning outcomes as well as student preferences in non-pandemic conditions. Lessons learned from hybrid delivery will also be considered for use in classroom-based environments. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Activity based Traffic Indicator System for Monitoring the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study describes an activity based traffic indicator system to provide information for COVID-19 pandemic management. The activity based traffic indicator system does this by utilizing a social probability model based on the birthday paradox to determine the exposure risk, the probability of meeting someone infected (PoMSI). COVID-19 data, particularly the 7-day moving average of the daily growth rate of cases (7-DMA of DGR) and cumulative confirmed cases of next week covering a period from April to September 2020, were then used to test PoMSI using Pearson correlation to verify whether it can be used as a factor for the indicator. While there is no correlation for the 7-DMA of DGR, PoMSI is strongly correlated (0.671 to 0.996) with the cumulative confirmed cases and it can be said that as the cases continuously rise, the probability of meeting someone COVID positive will also be higher. This shows that indicator not only shows the current exposure risk of certain activities but it also has a predictive nature since it correlates to cumulative confirmed cases of next week and can be used to anticipate the values of confirmed cumulative cases. This information can then be used for pandemic management. Copyright © 2021 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved.