Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Mar 22, 2009
This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS... more This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS) by using tools based on intelligent agents. It introduces iGDSS, a software platform for decision support and collaboration and an application of this platform -eCollaborative Decisions -for academic environment, all these developed within a framework of a research project.
This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS... more This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS) by using tools based on intelligent agents. It introduces iGDSS, a software platform for decision support and collaboration and an application of this platform - eCollaborative Decisions - for academic environment, all these developed within a framework of a research project.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is among the most widely used safety analysis procedures ... more Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is among the most widely used safety analysis procedures in the various industries. The procedure is generally perceived as complex and time-consuming, hindering an effective reuse of previous knowledge. In this paper we present an innovative usage of knowledge system into FMEA process using the Case-based reasoning to reduce the time and effort associated with this analysis. Knowledge system is built to serve multi-projects work that nowadays are in place in any manufacturing or services provider, and knowledge must be retained and reused at the company level and not only at project level. Collaboration is assured trough web-based GUI that supports multiple users access at any time. Initial results confirm the viability of this system for industrial application.
In this paper, the authors aim to develop an intelligent learning environment model designed to i... more In this paper, the authors aim to develop an intelligent learning environment model designed to improve students’ academic performance. Methodology: Referring to the litarature, the authors identified and analyzed a number of relevant issues that influence the specific components of an intelligent learning environment. These aspects were quantified using performance indicators defined on the basis of the specific objectives of each aspect chosen. Results: Following the analysis, the authors developed a model of intelligent learning space, and for its representation, we used conceptual modeling. Conclusions: Finally, the authors propose the prevalidation of the model using the dynamic modeling process and then the model will be piloted for final validation in both physical and virtual environment. These aspects are proposed because in the present study, the model was validated only based on the results from studies in scientific literature.
International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education, 2015
Sustainable development of a process depends on a harmonious association of three sustainable pil... more Sustainable development of a process depends on a harmonious association of three sustainable pillars: Economy, Society, and Environment. Yet, in case of DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) process, the combination is challenged by inefficient management of knowledge resource in the process. The potential economy resource is not preserved and renewed, and therefore influents on sustainability of the process. In this article, the authors present and discuss sustainable aspects of a knowledge management model for DMAIC in which knowledge resource is accumulated and reused efficiently. In particular, the key concepts of sustainable development are reviewed, a process of knowledge management based on Ontology Engineering is presented, and sustainable criterial and measures for the proposed model are applied. The authors find that preserving and renewing knowledge is an indispensable process of sustainable development of DMAIC process.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, Dec 20, 2017
Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so tha... more Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so that video or gaming lessons are found in most online courses and are developed in order to maintain the student's interest. The current Learning Management Systems challenges refer to how to generate a dynamic content that automatically adapts to the a priori level of a student's knowledge and behavior during lessons. Starting from the model student, the component of adaptive learning, the aim of this paper is to keep student motivation by designing a course with content related to the level of knowledge of the students. At the same time, lessons combine elements of gamification with quizzes, textual contexts and infographics in order to make the content more varied, and in order for the student to be more engaged, to assimilate, to understand or to recall the concepts presented in the course.
The paper investigates experiences of employees and middle managers in relation to the transition... more The paper investigates experiences of employees and middle managers in relation to the transition from working from office to working from home in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in Romania. Three online focus groups were conducted to explore working experience in the new mode of work. The conclusions are multifaceted, covering four dimensions: time, spatial, social and technical, and point out how employees and middle managers understand the transition and what impact telework had on their job satisfaction and work productivity.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 2017
Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so tha... more Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so that video or gaming lessons are found in most online courses and are developed in order to maintain the student’s interest. The current Learning Management Systems challenges refer to how to generate a dynamic content that automatically adapts to the a priori level of a student’s knowledge and behavior during lessons. Starting from the model student, the component of adaptive learning, the aim of this paper is to keep student motivation by designing a course with content related to the level of knowledge of the students. At the same time, lessons combine elements of gamification with quizzes, textual contexts and infographics in order to make the content more varied, and in order for the student to be more engaged, to assimilate, to understand or to recall the concepts presented in the course.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, Dec 20, 2017
The professional standards for teachers provide the competences needed for this occupation, in fu... more The professional standards for teachers provide the competences needed for this occupation, in function of the level of education and of the career stages. This study aims to discover the most important training factors which contribute to the acquisition of teacher competences and to establish the implications for teacher education. We have used a mixed-method design as the procedure for collecting, analyzing, and combining both quantitative and qualitative data. To detect the main agents in the teacher competences' achievement, we applied a questionnaire and we asked the personal opinion of the teachers regarding their evolution in the career. The findings indicated that the principal factor was the individual study, followed by the continuing professional development, through training courses, the collaborative learning, and, almost on the last place, the initial teacher education. Implications for teacher education: the changes in the future are incalculable, so we have to rethink the teacher education to ensure future teachers able to learn and adapt themselves to different conditions. We appreciate the recommendations to reform teacher education in the context of lifelong learning very useful (Dolan, 2012) and we will study the applicability of them in our university.
The idea to build a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) to support the decision makers at all th... more The idea to build a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) to support the decision makers at all the hierarchic levels in an organization to take the decisions efficiently and just in time appeared in the '70. The main advantage of using a GDSS proved to be, over the years, a better understanding of the decision process through the involvement of all the decision makers in all the phases of the decisional issue from statement to solving and interpretation. With time, GDSS turned the collaboration activities into a competitive advantage for all the actors involved: public administration, academic environment and enterprises, contributing to a higher competitiveness in a time when the cooperation between the various organizations and the self-administration plays a key role in a global economy. In this paper, 3 GDSS's developed in research projects and implemented in LBUS (Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu) and other industrial companies are presented and analysed; we come also w...
International Journal of Computers Communications & Control, 2014
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic method for procedure analyses and risk a... more Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic method for procedure analyses and risk assessment. It is a structured way to identify potential failure modes of a product or process, probability of their occurrence, and their overall effects. The basic purpose of this analysis is to mitigate the risk and the impact associated to a failure by planning and prioritizing actions to make a product or a process robust to failure. Effective manufacturing and improved quality products are the fruits of successful implementation of FMEA. During this activity valuable knowledge is generated which turns into product or process quality and efficiency. If this knowledge can be shared and reused then it would be helpful in early identification of failure points and their troubleshooting, and will also help the quality management to get decision support in time. But integration and reuse of this knowledge is difficult because there are number of challenges e.g., unavailability of unified criteria of FMEA knowledge, lack of semantic organization, natural language text based description of knowledge, most of the times FMEA is started from scratch instead of using existing knowledge that makes it incomplete for larger systems, and above all its success depends on the knowledge which is stored in the brains of perfectionists in the form of experience which may or may not be available anytime anywhere. In this article we are proposing an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solution to preserve, reuse, and share the valuable knowledge produced during FMEA. In proposed system existing knowledge available in repositories and experts head will be gathered and stored in a knowledge base using an ontology, and at the time of need this knowledge base will be inferred to make decisions in order to mitigate the probable risks. Ontology based approaches are best suited for the knowledge management systems, in which human experts are required to model and analyze their expertise in order to feed them in a conceptual knowledge base for its preservation and reuse.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 2014
This article summarizes a research study conducted at SC Scandia SRL Sibiu with double purpose: f... more This article summarizes a research study conducted at SC Scandia SRL Sibiu with double purpose: first to propose a methodology designed to help maintain the competitiveness of the market; on the other hand to provide a complex tool use in training of future graduates of academic skills. The methodology developed is multidisciplinary combining established marketing methods and quality management. The team followed the methodology to be effective, easy to apply and involve minimal costs.
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Mar 22, 2009
This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS... more This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS) by using tools based on intelligent agents. It introduces iGDSS, a software platform for decision support and collaboration and an application of this platform -eCollaborative Decisions -for academic environment, all these developed within a framework of a research project.
This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS... more This paper presents an innovative approach within the area of Group Decision Support System (GDSS) by using tools based on intelligent agents. It introduces iGDSS, a software platform for decision support and collaboration and an application of this platform - eCollaborative Decisions - for academic environment, all these developed within a framework of a research project.
Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is among the most widely used safety analysis procedures ... more Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) is among the most widely used safety analysis procedures in the various industries. The procedure is generally perceived as complex and time-consuming, hindering an effective reuse of previous knowledge. In this paper we present an innovative usage of knowledge system into FMEA process using the Case-based reasoning to reduce the time and effort associated with this analysis. Knowledge system is built to serve multi-projects work that nowadays are in place in any manufacturing or services provider, and knowledge must be retained and reused at the company level and not only at project level. Collaboration is assured trough web-based GUI that supports multiple users access at any time. Initial results confirm the viability of this system for industrial application.
In this paper, the authors aim to develop an intelligent learning environment model designed to i... more In this paper, the authors aim to develop an intelligent learning environment model designed to improve students’ academic performance. Methodology: Referring to the litarature, the authors identified and analyzed a number of relevant issues that influence the specific components of an intelligent learning environment. These aspects were quantified using performance indicators defined on the basis of the specific objectives of each aspect chosen. Results: Following the analysis, the authors developed a model of intelligent learning space, and for its representation, we used conceptual modeling. Conclusions: Finally, the authors propose the prevalidation of the model using the dynamic modeling process and then the model will be piloted for final validation in both physical and virtual environment. These aspects are proposed because in the present study, the model was validated only based on the results from studies in scientific literature.
International Journal of Quality Assurance in Engineering and Technology Education, 2015
Sustainable development of a process depends on a harmonious association of three sustainable pil... more Sustainable development of a process depends on a harmonious association of three sustainable pillars: Economy, Society, and Environment. Yet, in case of DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control) process, the combination is challenged by inefficient management of knowledge resource in the process. The potential economy resource is not preserved and renewed, and therefore influents on sustainability of the process. In this article, the authors present and discuss sustainable aspects of a knowledge management model for DMAIC in which knowledge resource is accumulated and reused efficiently. In particular, the key concepts of sustainable development are reviewed, a process of knowledge management based on Ontology Engineering is presented, and sustainable criterial and measures for the proposed model are applied. The authors find that preserving and renewing knowledge is an indispensable process of sustainable development of DMAIC process.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, Dec 20, 2017
Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so tha... more Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so that video or gaming lessons are found in most online courses and are developed in order to maintain the student's interest. The current Learning Management Systems challenges refer to how to generate a dynamic content that automatically adapts to the a priori level of a student's knowledge and behavior during lessons. Starting from the model student, the component of adaptive learning, the aim of this paper is to keep student motivation by designing a course with content related to the level of knowledge of the students. At the same time, lessons combine elements of gamification with quizzes, textual contexts and infographics in order to make the content more varied, and in order for the student to be more engaged, to assimilate, to understand or to recall the concepts presented in the course.
The paper investigates experiences of employees and middle managers in relation to the transition... more The paper investigates experiences of employees and middle managers in relation to the transition from working from office to working from home in the context of COVID-19 pandemic in Romania. Three online focus groups were conducted to explore working experience in the new mode of work. The conclusions are multifaceted, covering four dimensions: time, spatial, social and technical, and point out how employees and middle managers understand the transition and what impact telework had on their job satisfaction and work productivity.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 2017
Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so tha... more Developments in the IT field have led to the development and variety of e-learning objects so that video or gaming lessons are found in most online courses and are developed in order to maintain the student’s interest. The current Learning Management Systems challenges refer to how to generate a dynamic content that automatically adapts to the a priori level of a student’s knowledge and behavior during lessons. Starting from the model student, the component of adaptive learning, the aim of this paper is to keep student motivation by designing a course with content related to the level of knowledge of the students. At the same time, lessons combine elements of gamification with quizzes, textual contexts and infographics in order to make the content more varied, and in order for the student to be more engaged, to assimilate, to understand or to recall the concepts presented in the course.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, Dec 20, 2017
The professional standards for teachers provide the competences needed for this occupation, in fu... more The professional standards for teachers provide the competences needed for this occupation, in function of the level of education and of the career stages. This study aims to discover the most important training factors which contribute to the acquisition of teacher competences and to establish the implications for teacher education. We have used a mixed-method design as the procedure for collecting, analyzing, and combining both quantitative and qualitative data. To detect the main agents in the teacher competences' achievement, we applied a questionnaire and we asked the personal opinion of the teachers regarding their evolution in the career. The findings indicated that the principal factor was the individual study, followed by the continuing professional development, through training courses, the collaborative learning, and, almost on the last place, the initial teacher education. Implications for teacher education: the changes in the future are incalculable, so we have to rethink the teacher education to ensure future teachers able to learn and adapt themselves to different conditions. We appreciate the recommendations to reform teacher education in the context of lifelong learning very useful (Dolan, 2012) and we will study the applicability of them in our university.
The idea to build a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) to support the decision makers at all th... more The idea to build a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) to support the decision makers at all the hierarchic levels in an organization to take the decisions efficiently and just in time appeared in the '70. The main advantage of using a GDSS proved to be, over the years, a better understanding of the decision process through the involvement of all the decision makers in all the phases of the decisional issue from statement to solving and interpretation. With time, GDSS turned the collaboration activities into a competitive advantage for all the actors involved: public administration, academic environment and enterprises, contributing to a higher competitiveness in a time when the cooperation between the various organizations and the self-administration plays a key role in a global economy. In this paper, 3 GDSS's developed in research projects and implemented in LBUS (Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu) and other industrial companies are presented and analysed; we come also w...
International Journal of Computers Communications & Control, 2014
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic method for procedure analyses and risk a... more Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic method for procedure analyses and risk assessment. It is a structured way to identify potential failure modes of a product or process, probability of their occurrence, and their overall effects. The basic purpose of this analysis is to mitigate the risk and the impact associated to a failure by planning and prioritizing actions to make a product or a process robust to failure. Effective manufacturing and improved quality products are the fruits of successful implementation of FMEA. During this activity valuable knowledge is generated which turns into product or process quality and efficiency. If this knowledge can be shared and reused then it would be helpful in early identification of failure points and their troubleshooting, and will also help the quality management to get decision support in time. But integration and reuse of this knowledge is difficult because there are number of challenges e.g., unavailability of unified criteria of FMEA knowledge, lack of semantic organization, natural language text based description of knowledge, most of the times FMEA is started from scratch instead of using existing knowledge that makes it incomplete for larger systems, and above all its success depends on the knowledge which is stored in the brains of perfectionists in the form of experience which may or may not be available anytime anywhere. In this article we are proposing an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solution to preserve, reuse, and share the valuable knowledge produced during FMEA. In proposed system existing knowledge available in repositories and experts head will be gathered and stored in a knowledge base using an ontology, and at the time of need this knowledge base will be inferred to make decisions in order to mitigate the probable risks. Ontology based approaches are best suited for the knowledge management systems, in which human experts are required to model and analyze their expertise in order to feed them in a conceptual knowledge base for its preservation and reuse.
Balkan Region Conference on Engineering and Business Education, 2014
This article summarizes a research study conducted at SC Scandia SRL Sibiu with double purpose: f... more This article summarizes a research study conducted at SC Scandia SRL Sibiu with double purpose: first to propose a methodology designed to help maintain the competitiveness of the market; on the other hand to provide a complex tool use in training of future graduates of academic skills. The methodology developed is multidisciplinary combining established marketing methods and quality management. The team followed the methodology to be effective, easy to apply and involve minimal costs.
Uploads
Papers by Stefania Kifor