Multiple Case Studies About Robotics in Compulsory Education

Programming is fundamental to the development of computational thinking, one of the essential skills for the 21st century. Tangible programming can be a powerful ally of this process from an early age, especially if it supports STEM tasks areas and inclusion. These are the pillars of the TangIn project, under which four qualitative case studies were developed with the aim of to evaluate the lesson plans designed within the scope of the project and the potential of its implementation for the development of the mentioned dimensions. The statistical and content analysis which the questionnaires applied to 43 teachers from Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, and Latvia were submitted to conclude that students were always very committed and motivated during activities and developed specific and transversal skills related to STEM, including the ability to program and value colleagues, what contributed to its inclusion, regardless of sex and socio-economic conditions.

Exploring the Application of Lean Best Practices in Remanufacturing: Empirical Insights into the Benefits and Barriers

Remanufacturing processes have been widely identified as being important elements of a sustainable economy. However, the commercial viability of this product recovery route is significantly influenced by several operational challenges that are different from those that occur in conventional manufacturing. One of the most widely used systematic process improvement methods in conventional manufacturing is lean production, which seeks to minimize all forms of waste throughout an operation. As the academic study of lean best practices in remanufacturing processes is relatively new, there is a lack of knowledge regarding implementation and impact. As such, this paper presents multiple case studies investigating the application of lean methods in industrial remanufacturing operations. These studies focus on the automotive industry, where both conventional and remanufacturing operations have been the leading adopters of lean thinking and practice. The results of the investigation identify specific lean methods that help manage the inherent complexity of the remanufacturing processes, and consequently improve the overall productivity of the process. Similarly, factors that limit the application of lean practices within remanufacturing are also identified and discussed. Matrices for opportunities and threats are developed to enable the simple adoption of these findings. Overall, the research provides a more holistic understanding of the application of lean within a remanufacturing environment, with benefits for both academia and industry.

Rethinking Basic Assumptions for Modeling Parasitic Capacitance in Inductors

<b>This paper rethinks the basic assumptions often used in analytically modeling parasitic capacitance in inductors. These assumptions are classified in two commonly-used physics-based analysis methods: the lumped capacitor network method and the energy conservation method. The lumped-capacitor network method is not the proper solution for calculating the equivalent parasitic capacitance in inductors at the first resonant frequency, but rather represents the equivalent parasitic capacitance above the last resonant frequency. The energy-conservation based method is shown to be more accurate and a reasonable solution to model the equivalent parasitic capacitance at the first resonant frequency. Multiple case studies of inductors are used for verifying the theory. </b>

Rethinking Basic Assumptions for Modeling Parasitic Capacitance in Inductors

<b>This paper rethinks the basic assumptions often used in analytically modeling parasitic capacitance in inductors. These assumptions are classified in two commonly-used physics-based analysis methods: the lumped capacitor network method and the energy conservation method. The lumped-capacitor network method is not the proper solution for calculating the equivalent parasitic capacitance in inductors at the first resonant frequency, but rather represents the equivalent parasitic capacitance above the last resonant frequency. The energy-conservation based method is shown to be more accurate and a reasonable solution to model the equivalent parasitic capacitance at the first resonant frequency. Multiple case studies of inductors are used for verifying the theory. </b>

Factors Contribute to Project Governance Practices: Case Studies in Malaysian Rural Poverty Housing Projects

Poverty alleviation projects are implemented as part of the national development and prosperity agenda. This study aimed to gain an understanding of the factors that contribute to the project governance practices in poverty alleviation efforts for the rural poor in Malaysia, which will lead to better project delivery and the successful outcome of the projects. Multiple case studies were conducted on two public initiative housing assistance projects in rural areas of peninsular Malaysia. It explored how dealing with the rural poor influences public officials in conducting projects through stewardship-governance notion. A qualitative approach through multiple case studies was utilised in this study where multiple sources of evidence were used such as semi-structured interviews with 12 public officials, document analysis and observation. The study discovered five factors that contribute to project governance practices, namely altruistic empathy, intrinsic motivation, effective leadership, learning environment and shared vision where these factors interplay with each other towards the achievement of project outcome. Hence, this article contributes to the dynamic understanding of how public officials embraced motivational factors in conducting their works related to the rural poverty alleviation projects. Appropriate utilisation of project governance practices drives for better project delivery to the target groups.

Requirement Engineering Challenges for Social Sector Software Development: Insights from Multiple Case Studies

Diversity is a great challenge for software engineers in the social sector context. The objective of this paper is to contribute to the identification of the RE processes and associated challenges in releasing the software in the social sector markets for which an exploratory case study is conducted. The outcome of the case study indicates that the diversity limits the ability to involve the representative samples of user populations using the same set of RE tools and techniques as one size fits all solution for all segments. The diverse user base must be partitioned into different segments, with each segment triggered using a suitable set of RE techniques i.e., traditional and crowd-based RE. The diverse perspectives learned as a result of the interaction with each segment, must be merged together into a single perspective about the software meant to be used in the social sector. There is a need for a new RE process specially designed for handling the complexities of the social sector, which this paper terms as Social Sector Requirement Engineering (SSRE). There is an increased need for collaboration between government social sector institutions and software engineers to get access to diverse customers to improve software quality.

Corruption and The State in the Sahel

Systemic corruption in the Sahel is the outcome of particular historical and institutional trajectories of state-building efforts, of factionalism and patronage, and of the inability of the state apparatus to rely on alternative mechanisms to ensure its survival and legitimacy. One key feature that emerges from the analysis and comparisons of multiple case studies is the extraordinary propagation of everyday corruption, to be distinguished from “big” corruption, and the ambivalent perceptions of it by citizens when dealing with the bureaucracy. Daily corruption practices manifest themselves in a variety of forms and underpin especially the delivery of basic public services. Corruption in the Sahel is an institutionalized way of managing people and exercising power in situations of limited accountability, and is closely connected with other dynamics operating within the social and economic system.