MRI/RUI for Equipment Acquisition to Increase Network Engineering Laboratory Capacities for Hispanic Engineering Students

影响：波多黎各理工大学的MRI/RUI设备采购将增加西班牙裔工程学生的网络工程实验室能力，这将对三个机构目标产生重大影响：(1)为计算机工程专业的西班牙裔学生和教师改善获取和增加现代研究和研究训练仪器的使用；(2)缩小该校1330名电气工程专业的西班牙裔学生和300多名计算机工程专业的西班牙裔学生在技术和研究方面的差距；(3)整合计算机工程的教学与研究。这三个机构和部门的目标与NSF-MRI项目和RUI项目一致。受影响的西班牙裔教职员工包括19名全职EE教职员工，特别是6名计算机工程教职员工。研究：利用网络工程实验室的研究活动将集中在开放学习对象和内部元数据上。其中包括Open LO（OLO）的设计，它基于Open标准，主要是XML标记语言及其相关工具。它公开了一个接口，用于导出LO-to-Learner交互的结果，并用于LOadaptation。内部元数据是分层元数据机制的集合，用于描述olo、它们的自适应特征和学习者交互跟踪。根据这种架构设计的LO对象仍然保留了抽象LO实现方面所需的封装和模块化，研究人员可以研究这些实现方面的未来增强和增长，但它们为提取与学习者交互的结果和LO适应提供了系统和一致的接口。提议活动的智力价值：提议的研究项目促进了计算机工程领域的知识和理解，并探索了创造性的概念。一些组织，尤其是IEEE和IMS联盟，已经提出了描述学习对象的标准。虽然这些努力实质上推进了互操作性的目标，但它们在解决学习对象（LO）内部组成的可访问性需求方面存在不足。根据目前的标准，劳工组织仍然是一个不透明的实体，无法轻易地从中收集或收获有价值的信息，也无法引入或调整。拟议活动的更广泛影响：该领域的研究将充分整合教育和研究活动，利用IDEAL电子学习环境作为平台，从独特的角度测试和探索这些问题和类似问题；这是一个潜在的非常大的学习者池，可以通过网络获得。在加强后的网络工程实验室进行的研究活动，同样有助于北大与美国其他工程学院和大学在计算机工程研究方面进行合作。

Impact: The Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico's MRI/RUI for EquipmentAcquisition to Increase Network Engineering Laboratory Capacities for Hispanic EngineeringStudents will significantly impact three institutional goals: (1) Improving access to andincreasing the use of modern research and research training instrumentation for our Hispanicstudents and faculty in Computer Engineering; (2) lessening the technological and research gapexperienced by the institution's 1,330 Hispanic students in Electrical Engineering and directlyover 300 Hispanic students studying Computer Engineering; and, (3) integrating education andresearch in Computer Engineering. These three institutional and departmental goals areconsistent with the NSF-MRI program and the RUI program. The Hispanic faculty to beimpacted includes 19 full-time EE faculty members and specifically 6 faculty members inComputer Engineering.Research: The research activities utilizing the Network Engineering Laboratory will becentered on Open Learning Objects and Inner Metadata. These include the design of Open LO(OLO), which is based on Open standards, mostly XML markup languages and their relatedtools. It exposes an interface to export the results of LO-to-Learner interaction, and for LOadaptation. Inner Metadata is the collection of layered meta-data mechanisms that are used todescribe the OLOs, their adaptive features, and the Learner interaction tracing. LO objectsdesigned according to this architecture still retain the encapsulation and modularity required toabstract those implementation aspects of a LO that researchers can investigate for futureenhancement and growth, yet they provide a systematic and consistent interface for extractingthe results of the interaction with the Learner and for LO adaptation.Intellectual Merit of the Proposed Activity: The proposed research project advancesknowledge and understanding within the field of Computer Engineering and explores creativeconcepts. Several organizations most notably the IEEE and the IMS Consortium, have proposedstandards for describing Learning Objects. While these efforts substantially advance the goals ofinteroperability, they fall short at addressing the need for accessibility to the internal compositionof the Learning Objects (LO). Under present standards, the LO remains an opaque entity fromwhich valuable information cannot be easily gleaned or harvested, nor introduced or adapted.Broader Impact of the Proposed Activity: Research in this area will fully integrateeducation and research activities by utilizing the IDEAL eLearning environment as a platform totest and explore these and similar issues from a unique perspective; that of a potentially verylarge learner pool as available through the web. The research activities to be undertaken in theenhanced Network Engineering Laboratory will equally serve to expose PUPR to collaborate inComputer Engineering research with other engineering colleges and universities in the UnitedStates.