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Article
Publication date: 2 July 2024

Zeinab Zaremohzzabieh, Seyedali Ahrari, Haslinda Abdullah, Rusli Abdullah and Mahboobeh Moosivand

This study aims to meta-analytically investigate the impact of educational technology interventions on the development of creative thinking in educational settings. In recent…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to meta-analytically investigate the impact of educational technology interventions on the development of creative thinking in educational settings. In recent years, the debate among researchers has persisted regarding the impact of various educational technologies, including interactive learning environments, digital instruction and platforms, and educational games and robotics, on students' creative thinking in diverse educational settings due to inconsistent findings.

Design/methodology/approach

This study, conducting a meta-analysis by synthesizing 35 relevant empirical studies with 2,776 participants, aims to investigate the association between educational technology interventions and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and its subscales (fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration).

Findings

No evident publication bias was found. From a general perspective, the results demonstrate a moderate level of influence of educational technology on the overall TTCT scale, with high heterogeneity attributed to the adopted instruments, mixed methods and target outcomes. Additionally, the results indicate that only three of the TTCT subscales (fluency, flexibility and originality) are influenced by educational technologies. Among the interventions, interactive learning environments yielded medium to the largest mean effect size. Furthermore, moderator analyses suggest that the effects of interventions on two subscales of TTCT (flexibility and originality) are moderated by school types, research design and the duration of intervention. The conclusion drawn is that interventions promoting students' creative thinking in different educational settings are efficacious.

Originality/value

Despite the low homogeneity of the results, which might have influenced the findings, the large fail-safe N suggests that these findings are robust. The study examined potential causes of heterogeneity and emphasized the importance of further research in this area.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 June 2008

Nurul Amelina Nasharuddin, Jamaliah Abdul Hamid, Hamidah Ibrahim, Mohd. Hasan Selamat, Rusli Abdullah and Wan Malini Wan Isa

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the visualizer interface that has been developed for the first phase of an automatic meaning extraction (AME) system.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the visualizer interface that has been developed for the first phase of an automatic meaning extraction (AME) system.

Design/methodology/approach

AME system was developed to automatically extract concepts and their relations across texts from all domains of knowledge. One challenge for the developer is to create interface tools that help the users use the system. This paper describes a visualizer interface that can map the concepts and relations in the form of two‐dimensional graph or network.

Findings

Using this visualizer, users can maximize the use of AME system by allowing the visualization of the concepts' networks results. Users can search for a concept and view the relationships of the concept to other concepts. Those relationships can be traced back to the source sentences in the original documents through the “Show Text” function.

Originality/value

This visualizer is useful in solving the problem of visualizing the relationships between concepts across varied domains of knowledge. The extraction of relationships in the AME system is based upon a unique connector‐based relation extraction. It is particularly appropriate for target users such as the researcher, educators and learners. The visualizer implements the Java Universal Network/Graph Framework to provide a few functions that enable users to manipulate the concepts graph.

Details

VINE, vol. 38 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0305-5728

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 January 2022

Kaifur Rashed, Abdullah Kafi, Ranya Simons and Stuart Bateman

Process parameters in Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) can affect mechanical and surface properties of printed parts. Numerous studies have reported parametric studies of various…

Abstract

Purpose

Process parameters in Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) can affect mechanical and surface properties of printed parts. Numerous studies have reported parametric studies of various materials using full factorial and Taguchi design of experiments (DoEs). However, a comparison between the two are not well-established in literature. The purpose of this study is to compare full factorial and Taguchi DoEs to determine the effects of FFF process parameters on mechanical and surface properties of Nylon 6/66 copolymer. In addition, perform in-depth failure mechanism analysis to understand why the process parameters affect the responses.

Design/methodology/approach

A full factorial DoE was used to determine the effects of FFF process parameters, such as infill density, infill pattern, layer height and raster angle on responses, such as compressive strength, impact strength, surface roughness and manufacturing time of Nylon 6/66. Micro-computed tomography was used to analyse the impact test samples before and after impact and scanning electron microscope was used to understand the failure mechanism of infill and top layers. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) scans of infill and top layers were then taken to determine if a variation in crystallinity existed in different regions of the build.

Findings

Analysis of variance and main effects plots reveal that infill density has the greatest effect on mechanical and surface properties while manufacturing time is most affected by layer height for the polymer used. A 20% reduction in infill increased impact strength by 19% on average, X-ray images of some of the samples before and after impact tests are presented to understand the reason behind the difference. Moreover, DSC revealed a difference in the degree of crystallinity between the infill and top layers for 80% infill density samples. In addition, Taguchi DoE is realized to be a more efficient technique to determine optimum process parameters for responses that vary linearly as it reduces experimental effort significantly while providing mostly accurate results.

Originality/value

To the author’s knowledge, no published paper has reported a comparison between predictive DoE method with full factorial DoE to verify their accuracy in determining the effects of FFF process parameters on properties of printed parts. Also, a theory was developed based on DSC results that as the infill is printed faster, it cools slowly compared to the top layers, and hence the infill is in a less crystalline state when compared to the top layers. This increased the ductility of the infill (of 80% infill samples) and thus improved impact absorption.

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2021

Michele Ciotti, Giampaolo Campana and Mattia Mele

This paper aims to present a survey concerning the accuracy of thermoplastic polymeric parts fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM). Based on the scientific literature, the aim…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a survey concerning the accuracy of thermoplastic polymeric parts fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM). Based on the scientific literature, the aim is to provide an updated map of trends and gaps in this relevant research field. Several technologies and investigation methods are examined, thus giving an overview and analysis of the growing body of research.

Design/methodology/approach

Permutations of keywords, which concern materials, technologies and the accuracy of thermoplastic polymeric parts fabricated by AM, are used for a systematic search in peer-review databases. The selected articles are screened and ranked to identify those that are more relevant. A bibliometric analysis is performed based on investigated materials and applied technologies of published papers. Finally, each paper is categorised and discussed by considering the implemented research methods.

Findings

The interest in the accuracy of additively manufactured thermoplastics is increasing. The principal sources of inaccuracies are those shrinkages occurring during part solidification. The analysis of the research methods shows a predominance of empirical approaches. Due to the experimental context, those achievements have consequently limited applicability. Analytical and numerical models, which generally require huge computational costs when applied to complex products, are also numerous and are investigated in detail. Several articles deal with artificial intelligence tools and are gaining more and more attention.

Originality/value

The cross-technology survey on the accuracy issue highlights the common critical aspects of thermoplastics transformed by AM. An updated map of the recent research literature is achieved. The analysis shows the advantages and limitations of different research methods in this field, providing an overview of research trends and gaps.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2022

Farah Syazwani Shahar, Mohamed Thariq Hameed Sultan, Syafiqah Nur Azrie Safri, Mohammad Jawaid, Abd. Rahim Abu Talib, Adi Azriff Basri and Ain Umaira Md Shah

This paper aims to discuss the physical and thermal properties of the three-dimensional (3D) printing natural composite filament, as well as the tensile behaviour of the printed…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to discuss the physical and thermal properties of the three-dimensional (3D) printing natural composite filament, as well as the tensile behaviour of the printed composites to get an insight of its possibility to be used as an ankle–foot orthosis (AFO) material.

Design/methodology/approach

Physical test that was conducted includes scanning electron microscopy analysis, thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry analysis as well as the effect of fibre load after extrusion on the filament morphology. Tensile test was conducted with different amounts of fibre loads (0, 3, 5 and 7 Wt.%) on the printed specimens.

Findings

There is an increment of strength as the fibre load is increased to 3 Wt.%; however, it decreases significantly as it is increased to 5 and 7 Wt.% because of the presence of voids. It also shows that the extrusion temperature severely affects the structure of the filaments, which will then affect the strength of the printed composites. Based on the results, it is possible to use kenaf/polylactic acid (PLA) filament to print out AFO as long as the filament production and printing process are being controlled properly.

Originality/value

The unique aspect of this paper is the investigation of kenaf/PLA filament as a material for 3D printing, as well as its material consideration for AFO manufacturing. This paper also studies the effect of extrusion temperature on the morphological structure of the filament and its effect on the tensile properties of the printed kenaf/PLA specimen.

Article
Publication date: 27 June 2024

Harsh Vardhan Singh and Girish Chandra Verma

This study aims to address the challenge of reducing the build time of a fused deposition modeling (FDM) system while maintaining part strength, proposing a hybrid technique…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to address the challenge of reducing the build time of a fused deposition modeling (FDM) system while maintaining part strength, proposing a hybrid technique combining photopolymerization and FDM.

Design/methodology/approach

For developing the hybrid system, a standard FDM machine was modified to incorporate necessary components so that the whole system can be operated with a single interface; further, the samples were fabricated with conventional and modified process to evaluate the efficacy of the developed system, to determine the extent of time reduction that the proposed methodology can obtain, additionally different sort of 3D models were selected and their build time was compared.

Findings

The modified hybrid mechanism can successfully fabricate parts with a modified G-code. The simulation of the technique shows that a reduction of 34%–87% can be achieved for simpler models such as cube while a reduction ranging from 30.6%–87.8% was observed for complex models. An increase in strength of 6.58%, 11.51% and 37.32% was observed in X, Y and Z directions, along with a significant increase in toughness as compared with FDM parts for parts fabricated with the developed mechanism.

Practical implications

The modified mechanism could be used for fast fabrication purposes, which could be very useful for serving situations such as emergency health care, rapid tooling.

Originality/value

This research contributes a novel hybrid technique for additive manufacturing, offering a substantial reduction in build time without compromising mechanical properties, even increasing them.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 30 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 May 2023

Jiongyi Yan, Emrah Demirci and Andrew Gleadall

This study/paper aims to develop fundamental understanding of mechanical properties for multiple fibre-reinforced materials by using a single-filament-wide tensile-testing…

Abstract

Purpose

This study/paper aims to develop fundamental understanding of mechanical properties for multiple fibre-reinforced materials by using a single-filament-wide tensile-testing approach.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, recently validated single-filament-wide tensile-testing specimens were used for four polymers with and without short-fibre reinforcement. Critically, this specimen construct facilitates filament orientation control, for representative longitudinal and transverse composite directions, and enables measurement of interlayer bonded area, which is impossible with “slicing” software but essential in effective property measurement. Tensile properties were studied along the direction of extruded filaments (F) and normal to the interlayer bond (Z) both experimentally and theoretically via the Kelly–Tyson model, bridging model and Halpin–Tsai model.

Findings

Even though the four matrix-material properties varied hugely (1,440% difference in ductility), consistent material-independent trends were identified when adding fibres: ductility reduced in both F- and Z-directions; stiffness and strength increased in F but decreased or remained similar in Z; Z:F strength anisotropy and stiffness anisotropy ratios increased. Z:F strain-at-break anisotropy ratio decreased; stiffness and strain-at-break anisotropy were most affected by changes to F properties, whereas strength anisotropy was most affected by changes to Z properties.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to assess interlayer bond strength of composite materials based on measured interlayer bond areas, and consistent fibre-induced properties and anisotropy were found. The results demonstrate the critical influence of mesostructure and microstructure for three-dimensional printed composites. The authors encourage future studies to use specimens with a similar level of control to eliminate structural defects (inter-filament voids and non-uniform filament orientation).

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 29 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2021

Sabit Adanur and Ajay Jayswal

The purpose of this research is to design 3D print and analyze mechanical as well as microstructural behavior of interlaced fibrous structures using Dremel 3D45 additive…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to design 3D print and analyze mechanical as well as microstructural behavior of interlaced fibrous structures using Dremel 3D45 additive manufacturing (AM) machine.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of plain and twill weave fabrics are designed using computer-aided design software Solidworks and printed using fused deposition modeling machines to determine the best model that could be printable. The structures were designed in such a way that the fabricated yarns with pure (PLA) were not sticking to each other in the fabric structure. The specimens were printed in vertical orientation and then tensile and three-point bending (flexural) tests were conducted for twill weave fabrics.

Findings

The tests showed that the mechanical strength was higher in the warp direction than in the weft direction. This difference was because of printing of continuous filament-like yarns in the warp direction and staple-like yarns in the weft direction. This orthotropic property of the material was verified by analyzing its microscopic structures via optical microscope.

Research limitations/implications

Future work should include improvement of the structure and exploration of different polymers and their composites to increase the tensile, bending and other strengths to make the 3D-printed structures more flexible and stronger. Future research should also focus on the large-scale manufacturing of 3D printed fabrics.

Practical implications

This paper supports work on wearable 3D-printed fabrics. The 3D-printed fabric will also contribute to new applications and products such as liquid filters.

Originality/value

The research done in this work is new and original. This paper contributes to new knowledge by providing a better understanding of polymers and their 3D printing capabilities to form a complex fabric structure.

Details

Rapid Prototyping Journal, vol. 27 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2546

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 March 2022

Rong Zhang and Yu-Teng Chang

The purpose of this research is to explore the critical success factors of mobile animation games, by exploring the game itself, information systems, game motivation and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to explore the critical success factors of mobile animation games, by exploring the game itself, information systems, game motivation and promotional activities, as well as conducting research and analysis on mobile animation game players.

Design/methodology/approach

This research used the Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and the consistent fuzzy preference relationship for data analysis. In this study, collect 1,286 valid questionnaires through online questionnaire surveys. And comparing the two games “Legend Showdown” and “Tower of Gods and Demons”, players believe that the more successful mobile animation game is “Legend Showdown”.

Findings

Through experimental design, and the consistent fuzzy preference relationship for data analysis. The results found that the critical factors considered by the player in relation to the mobile animation game were firstly the information system, followed by promotional activities, game motivation and finally the game itself.

Research limitations/implications

Because this research does not involve the concept of fuzzy theory at all, it is easy to produce subjective, uncertain and ambiguity issues when comparing pairwise. We recommended that follow-up researchers can use fuzzy semantic preference relations to solve this problem.

Originality/value

This study proposed a new approach that takes the critical factors for the mobile animation game. According to the research results, the critical success factor of mobile animation games is the information system, as it could provide a reference direction for game manufacturers when designing or formulating marketing strategies in the future.

Book part
Publication date: 12 July 2021

Zulkiflee Ibrahim, Abu Bakar Fadzil, Amat Sairin Demun, Mazlin Jumain, Md Ridzuan Makhtar, Noraliani Alias, Nurfarhain Mohamed Rusli and Fenny Baseng

The Best Management Practices for Sustainable Urban Drainage System including On-Site Detention have been introduced in the Storm Water Management Manual for Malaysia. Flash…

Abstract

The Best Management Practices for Sustainable Urban Drainage System including On-Site Detention have been introduced in the Storm Water Management Manual for Malaysia. Flash floods are becoming frequent in the urbanised areas in this country. Inefficient drainage system has been highlighted as one of the factors. Urban drains were reported incapable of coping with the unexpected heavy rainfall. Concrete drains are favourable in construction industry for economic reasons. An experimental research was conducted out to investigate the effectiveness of infiltration integration with drainage system to reduce flash flood. This laboratory research was conducted in the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Experiments were performed for selected drainage bed slopes and focussed on several spacing between precast drain sections along the system. The total and infiltrated flow rates, water surface and velocity profiles were examined. The results showed that drain flow rates were reduced by 60.9%–89.6% when the spacing between drain sections were enlarged. Meanwhile, the flow depths in drain sections were dropped by 48.2%–68.9%, and the water velocity was lowered up to 49% as the spacing between drain sections were increased. The study found that the drainage bed slope also influenced the performance of the infiltrated concrete drainage system.

Details

Water Management and Sustainability in Asia
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-114-3

Keywords

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