Márcia Terra da Silva

Industry 4.0: Evolution of the Research at the APMS Conference

The research on Industry 4.0 is increasing in importance over the years due to the expectation that it represents a new industrial paradigm, increasing competitiveness to the industries that can adopt it. The objective of this paper is to study the main points of research on Industry 4.0, featured universities and research centers. Using methodology based on bibliographic review, we analyzed a total of 546 papers, which composed the proceedings of the International Conference Advances in Production Management Systems (APMS), in 2014 held in Ajaccio (France), 2015 in Tokyo (Japan) and 2016 in Iguassu Falls (Brazil) and selected 39 papers to make this research. The results revealed that Industry 4.0 is increasing in importance, broadening the field of research; some suggestions for future research are presented.

Discussion on the Possibilities and Contributions of the Moocs as a Tool to Support the Teaching of Engineering

This MOOCs have the potential to expand the limits of the knowledge in engineering courses, mainly as a source of support for the teaching-learning process, since access to different themes allows the faculty more freedom to explore and expand the content worked in the classroom and to the students, opportunities of qualification and contact with new knowledge. This article aims to show the applicability potential and how the concepts of the MOOCs are disseminated in the engineering courses, what are the interests and degree of knowledge of the teachers and students. On the other hand, the research seeks to analyze the behavior of the faculty and students as to the value they add to their academic activities from the moment they take over the tool since the MOOCs can contribute as support or supplement to the in-person subjects of the Engineering. The support for the discussions took as a base, in addition to the theoretical reference, a survey of teachers and students of Engineering courses in Regional Public and Private Institutions, located in Greater São Paulo. It results that, despite the potential of applicability and support to the teaching of Engineers, MOOCs are not adequately explored by the academic community. For data collection, the Google Docs tool was used. The study covered 224 students and 27 teachers. Keywords— MOOC, Professional Development, Engineering. Services Management, Distance Education.

The Importance of Timely Feedback to Interactivity in Online Education

This paper discusses the main factors that influence interactivity in online education. The literature points out that time to feedback in education is one of the factors which affect communication among people. Therefore, we did a survey in which participated 67 teachers and 105 students in all. As a result, it was noticed that the level of interactivity students perceived lessens as the time to feedback increases. Also, teachers who give fast feedback review the course as having excellent interactivity. Offering more creative/dynamic activities, giving faster feedback to students, and encouraging students to participate more often in the Virtual Learning Environment are crucial to improving interactivity in Distance Education.

Learning Analytics Deployment at an University

This article presents the implementation of Learning Analytics in a University with the aim of testing the extraction of knowledge from databases of two systems used in distance education, aiming to provide support for the management of the distance education as a way to understand students’ difficulties. Therefore, it was validated the applicability of literature reference model for the implementation the Learning Analytics. The data were extracted from the system of academic management and from the entrance exam to universities and were chosen the integration data, database and analytical tools. On the presented results, the model has been successfully applied, guiding the implementation of Learning Analytics at the University. The chosen tools facilitated the deployment and, brought benefits to University.

System Thinking and Business Model Canvas for Collaborative Business Models Design

The purpose of this research is to reduce the existing gap between the abstraction of the real world and business modeling. For that, we combine two solutions: the soft systems methodology (SSM) and business model canvas (BMC). The first step is to introduce the theoretical concepts of both. The second step is the application of each methodology separately. Moreover, the final stage is to feed the BMC with the outputs of SSM. Was verified in the results what the concept of approximate the real world to systemic world (SSM) bring several benefits in the application of the BMC.

Naphtha Production Assessment from the Perspective of the Emergy Accounting

Naphtha is the main petroleum derivative used as a feedstock for the steam cracking of olefins and aromatic petrochemical products. The environmental performance of the production of 1 kg of naphtha is evaluated using a Life Cycle Inventory-based emergy accounting, considering the environmental load of labor and services. The biophysical flows, which reflect the work of nature in the creation of the resources required for the production and the monetary systems, are evaluated in terms of emergy. The information recorded in a life cycle inventory (LCI) is used for the estimation of the specific emergy of naphtha. The results show that labor and services flows correspond to 10.54% and 12.93% of the total system emergy, respectively. The LCI-based emergy accounting, although being an unconventional measurement method, was found feasible bringing additional information that may help decision making.

Sustainable Economic Development and High Quality Engineering Education: Correlating Factors in Brazil’s Macro Regions

GDP development over time is one method of measuring the economic evolution of a country. According to the OECD, there are several factors that can influence GDP, one of which is Engineering Education. A possible way to determine the potential for economic development would be assessing the performance of high-level education, especially if the GDP-Engineering correlation is taken into account. Studies were overtaken to study the lack of engineering in Brazil as a structural problem. However, there is no analysis about the regional factor and the engineering education performance. The objective of this paper is to assess if there is a correlation between the regional GDP and good performance Engineering Education in Brazil. The study is based on official data provided by governmental organizations. A conclusion is reached were the regional disparity in GDP is similar to the disparity on High Quality Engineering Education.

Advances in Production Management Systems. Initiatives for a Sustainable World

Computer networks have two important characteristics: the vast diversity of connecting devices and a great variability of the physical distribution of equipments. Therefore, the performance analysis of a specific network based on absolute references or third parties may not be applicable in all circumstances, especially in highly complex and heterogeneous networks. Indeed, it carries a high degree of uncertainty, and the classical logic may not be appropriate to deal it. This paper aims to parameterize and evaluate the operating elements of heterogeneous networks, from the analysis of representative attributes, based on concepts of Paraconsistent Annotated Evidential Logic Eτ.

The Main Problems in the Design and Management of MOOCs

Despite the global scale, the wide range of courses and the high number of enrollments, some challenges have been emerging for the universe of the MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), especially those related to project and management aspects. This article aims to identify the main problems faced by the managers of the MOOCs. Hence, an exploratory study was carried out through the analysis of existing publications in academic databases. The results show that after the survey it was possible to identify and analyze six problems, the main one of which was the very low completion rate of this type of course.