Assessment of the digital competencies of university instructors through use of the machine learning method.

The explosion of COVID-19 has brought new challenges to the education industry, especially higher education. Digital competency is becoming an essential competency for higher education instructors, and how to assess instructors' digital competency is attracting increasing attention in higher education. However, most studies have used self-report questionnaires or manual reviews to assess digital competencies, which are time-consuming and potentially biased, and there is a current need for valid and effective assessment methods. To address this issue, this study uses machine learning to analyze syllabi to assess the extent to which university instructors have incorporated digital competency into their courses. The results show that not only is the proposed method feasible, but the results of the assessment using machine learning are highly consistent with those of the human assessment. This approach contributes to the assessment of digital competency in higher education institutions and provides evidence that can be used as a reference for future research on the development of digital competency in higher education institutions.

The study of the frequency effect of dynamic compressive loading on primary articular chondrocyte functions using a microcell culture system.

Compressive stimulation can modulate articular chondrocyte functions. Nevertheless, the relevant studies are not comprehensive. This is primarily due to the lack of cell culture apparatuses capable of conducting the experiments in a high throughput, precise, and cost-effective manner. To address the issue, we demonstrated the use of a perfusion microcell culture system to investigate the stimulating frequency (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 Hz) effect of compressive loading (20% and 40% strain) on the functions of articular chondrocytes. The system mainly integrates the functions of continuous culture medium perfusion and the generation of pneumatically-driven compressive stimulation in a high-throughput micro cell culture system. Results showed that the compressive stimulations explored did not have a significant impact on chondrocyte viability and proliferation. However, the metabolic activity of chondrocytes was significantly affected by the stimulating frequency at the higher compressive strain of 40% (2 Hz, 40% strain). Under the two compressive strains studied, the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) synthesis was upregulated when the stimulating frequency was set at 1 Hz and 2 Hz. However, the stimulating frequencies explored had no influence on the collagen production. The results of this study provide useful fundamental insights that will be helpful for cartilage tissue engineering and cartilage rehabilitation.