• Title/Summary/Keyword: U-Learning

Search Result 808, Processing Time 0.025 seconds

Predicting the Effects of Rooftop Greening and Evaluating CO2 Sequestration in Urban Heat Island Areas Using Satellite Imagery and Machine Learning (위성영상과 머신러닝 활용 도시열섬 지역 옥상녹화 효과 예측과 이산화탄소 흡수량 평가)

  • Minju Kim;Jeong U Park;Juhyeon Park;Jisoo Park;Chang-Uk Hyun
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
    • /
    • v.39 no.5_1
    • /
    • pp.481-493
    • /
    • 2023
  • In high-density urban areas, the urban heat island effect increases urban temperatures, leading to negative impacts such as worsened air pollution, increased cooling energy consumption, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. In urban environments where it is difficult to secure additional green spaces, rooftop greening is an efficient greenhouse gas reduction strategy. In this study, we not only analyzed the current status of the urban heat island effect but also utilized high-resolution satellite data and spatial information to estimate the available rooftop greening area within the study area. We evaluated the mitigation effect of the urban heat island phenomenon and carbon sequestration capacity through temperature predictions resulting from rooftop greening. To achieve this, we utilized WorldView-2 satellite data to classify land cover in the urban heat island areas of Busan city. We developed a prediction model for temperature changes before and after rooftop greening using machine learning techniques. To assess the degree of urban heat island mitigation due to changes in rooftop greening areas, we constructed a temperature change prediction model with temperature as the dependent variable using the random forest technique. In this process, we built a multiple regression model to derive high-resolution land surface temperatures for training data using Google Earth Engine, combining Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellite data. Additionally, we evaluated carbon sequestration based on rooftop greening areas using a carbon absorption capacity per plant. The results of this study suggest that the developed satellite-based urban heat island assessment and temperature change prediction technology using Random Forest models can be applied to urban heat island-vulnerable areas with potential for expansion.

Accelerometer-based Gesture Recognition for Robot Interface (로봇 인터페이스 활용을 위한 가속도 센서 기반 제스처 인식)

  • Jang, Min-Su;Cho, Yong-Suk;Kim, Jae-Hong;Sohn, Joo-Chan
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.17 no.1
    • /
    • pp.53-69
    • /
    • 2011
  • Vision and voice-based technologies are commonly utilized for human-robot interaction. But it is widely recognized that the performance of vision and voice-based interaction systems is deteriorated by a large margin in the real-world situations due to environmental and user variances. Human users need to be very cooperative to get reasonable performance, which significantly limits the usability of the vision and voice-based human-robot interaction technologies. As a result, touch screens are still the major medium of human-robot interaction for the real-world applications. To empower the usability of robots for various services, alternative interaction technologies should be developed to complement the problems of vision and voice-based technologies. In this paper, we propose the use of accelerometer-based gesture interface as one of the alternative technologies, because accelerometers are effective in detecting the movements of human body, while their performance is not limited by environmental contexts such as lighting conditions or camera's field-of-view. Moreover, accelerometers are widely available nowadays in many mobile devices. We tackle the problem of classifying acceleration signal patterns of 26 English alphabets, which is one of the essential repertoires for the realization of education services based on robots. Recognizing 26 English handwriting patterns based on accelerometers is a very difficult task to take over because of its large scale of pattern classes and the complexity of each pattern. The most difficult problem that has been undertaken which is similar to our problem was recognizing acceleration signal patterns of 10 handwritten digits. Most previous studies dealt with pattern sets of 8~10 simple and easily distinguishable gestures that are useful for controlling home appliances, computer applications, robots etc. Good features are essential for the success of pattern recognition. To promote the discriminative power upon complex English alphabet patterns, we extracted 'motion trajectories' out of input acceleration signal and used them as the main feature. Investigative experiments showed that classifiers based on trajectory performed 3%~5% better than those with raw features e.g. acceleration signal itself or statistical figures. To minimize the distortion of trajectories, we applied a simple but effective set of smoothing filters and band-pass filters. It is well known that acceleration patterns for the same gesture is very different among different performers. To tackle the problem, online incremental learning is applied for our system to make it adaptive to the users' distinctive motion properties. Our system is based on instance-based learning (IBL) where each training sample is memorized as a reference pattern. Brute-force incremental learning in IBL continuously accumulates reference patterns, which is a problem because it not only slows down the classification but also downgrades the recall performance. Regarding the latter phenomenon, we observed a tendency that as the number of reference patterns grows, some reference patterns contribute more to the false positive classification. Thus, we devised an algorithm for optimizing the reference pattern set based on the positive and negative contribution of each reference pattern. The algorithm is performed periodically to remove reference patterns that have a very low positive contribution or a high negative contribution. Experiments were performed on 6500 gesture patterns collected from 50 adults of 30~50 years old. Each alphabet was performed 5 times per participant using $Nintendo{(R)}$ $Wii^{TM}$ remote. Acceleration signal was sampled in 100hz on 3 axes. Mean recall rate for all the alphabets was 95.48%. Some alphabets recorded very low recall rate and exhibited very high pairwise confusion rate. Major confusion pairs are D(88%) and P(74%), I(81%) and U(75%), N(88%) and W(100%). Though W was recalled perfectly, it contributed much to the false positive classification of N. By comparison with major previous results from VTT (96% for 8 control gestures), CMU (97% for 10 control gestures) and Samsung Electronics(97% for 10 digits and a control gesture), we could find that the performance of our system is superior regarding the number of pattern classes and the complexity of patterns. Using our gesture interaction system, we conducted 2 case studies of robot-based edutainment services. The services were implemented on various robot platforms and mobile devices including $iPhone^{TM}$. The participating children exhibited improved concentration and active reaction on the service with our gesture interface. To prove the effectiveness of our gesture interface, a test was taken by the children after experiencing an English teaching service. The test result showed that those who played with the gesture interface-based robot content marked 10% better score than those with conventional teaching. We conclude that the accelerometer-based gesture interface is a promising technology for flourishing real-world robot-based services and content by complementing the limits of today's conventional interfaces e.g. touch screen, vision and voice.

An Intelligent Decision Support System for Selecting Promising Technologies for R&D based on Time-series Patent Analysis (R&D 기술 선정을 위한 시계열 특허 분석 기반 지능형 의사결정지원시스템)

  • Lee, Choongseok;Lee, Suk Joo;Choi, Byounggu
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.18 no.3
    • /
    • pp.79-96
    • /
    • 2012
  • As the pace of competition dramatically accelerates and the complexity of change grows, a variety of research have been conducted to improve firms' short-term performance and to enhance firms' long-term survival. In particular, researchers and practitioners have paid their attention to identify promising technologies that lead competitive advantage to a firm. Discovery of promising technology depends on how a firm evaluates the value of technologies, thus many evaluating methods have been proposed. Experts' opinion based approaches have been widely accepted to predict the value of technologies. Whereas this approach provides in-depth analysis and ensures validity of analysis results, it is usually cost-and time-ineffective and is limited to qualitative evaluation. Considerable studies attempt to forecast the value of technology by using patent information to overcome the limitation of experts' opinion based approach. Patent based technology evaluation has served as a valuable assessment approach of the technological forecasting because it contains a full and practical description of technology with uniform structure. Furthermore, it provides information that is not divulged in any other sources. Although patent information based approach has contributed to our understanding of prediction of promising technologies, it has some limitations because prediction has been made based on the past patent information, and the interpretations of patent analyses are not consistent. In order to fill this gap, this study proposes a technology forecasting methodology by integrating patent information approach and artificial intelligence method. The methodology consists of three modules : evaluation of technologies promising, implementation of technologies value prediction model, and recommendation of promising technologies. In the first module, technologies promising is evaluated from three different and complementary dimensions; impact, fusion, and diffusion perspectives. The impact of technologies refers to their influence on future technologies development and improvement, and is also clearly associated with their monetary value. The fusion of technologies denotes the extent to which a technology fuses different technologies, and represents the breadth of search underlying the technology. The fusion of technologies can be calculated based on technology or patent, thus this study measures two types of fusion index; fusion index per technology and fusion index per patent. Finally, the diffusion of technologies denotes their degree of applicability across scientific and technological fields. In the same vein, diffusion index per technology and diffusion index per patent are considered respectively. In the second module, technologies value prediction model is implemented using artificial intelligence method. This studies use the values of five indexes (i.e., impact index, fusion index per technology, fusion index per patent, diffusion index per technology and diffusion index per patent) at different time (e.g., t-n, t-n-1, t-n-2, ${\cdots}$) as input variables. The out variables are values of five indexes at time t, which is used for learning. The learning method adopted in this study is backpropagation algorithm. In the third module, this study recommends final promising technologies based on analytic hierarchy process. AHP provides relative importance of each index, leading to final promising index for technology. Applicability of the proposed methodology is tested by using U.S. patents in international patent class G06F (i.e., electronic digital data processing) from 2000 to 2008. The results show that mean absolute error value for prediction produced by the proposed methodology is lower than the value produced by multiple regression analysis in cases of fusion indexes. However, mean absolute error value of the proposed methodology is slightly higher than the value of multiple regression analysis. These unexpected results may be explained, in part, by small number of patents. Since this study only uses patent data in class G06F, number of sample patent data is relatively small, leading to incomplete learning to satisfy complex artificial intelligence structure. In addition, fusion index per technology and impact index are found to be important criteria to predict promising technology. This study attempts to extend the existing knowledge by proposing a new methodology for prediction technology value by integrating patent information analysis and artificial intelligence network. It helps managers who want to technology develop planning and policy maker who want to implement technology policy by providing quantitative prediction methodology. In addition, this study could help other researchers by proving a deeper understanding of the complex technological forecasting field.

A Study on the Effective Independent Study of Nursing Student (간호학생의 효과적인 자율학습을 위한 조사연구)

  • 김광주;이향련
    • Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
    • /
    • v.8 no.1
    • /
    • pp.16-42
    • /
    • 1978
  • This survey was made for a month starting from November 15 to December 15, 1977 covering 711 students taking the junior. (3rd-yea.) and the senior. (4th-year) at nine college of nursing in Seoul concerning their perception and Attitude toward the profession of nursing, motive for the necessity of learning, environment of study, attitude of study and particulars relevant with study performance, particulars of library, references and reading, assignments and particulars of the degree of confidence for the learning achievement. Through the survey of the above Particulars, the following results were obtained by classifying all subject matters and by analysing motive of the selection of their course, awarding or not awarding of scholarships. 1. General characteristics: it was revealed that 406 students (57.1%) were attending at the junior. while 305 students (42.9%) were taking the senior. Thus, the total number was 711 and their average age was 21.4 years. Their dwelling category was; 73.9 percent of them resided at their parent's home, 214 students (30.1%) were awarded with scholarships. The reason to be attracted by nursing science was the possibility of continuing social life after graduation (43.5%). 2. Their perception and attitude toward the profession of nursing: According to the perception of profession by the students of each grade, students of the 4th grade showed comparatively strong conception. Also, students of the 4th grade showed more positive attitude in the purchase and reading of magazines relative with the science of nursing, in the reading of Code for Nurses and in their interest in the activity of nursing field. For the necessity of mission of nurse, 97.7 percent of the entire number of students covered responded to necessity. For the necessity of the particular humanity and particularity in the character of nurses, 95.8 percent of those students responded to necessity. By the each grade, students of the 4th grade showed more response. 3. As to professional field desired after completing the professional course: 57 percent of those students desired for clinician nurse while 55 percents desired for community health-nurse. 4. As to the environment of study: they were mostly satisfied with their present residential environment. However, they complained of inconvenience at their lecture-halls. Students of the 3rd grade showed more complain. As to their attitude toward the adjustment of environment of study, they showed a affirmative response. As to the opinion of factors which interfere with their study, comparatively strong response was showed in their scepticism in the science of nursing, insufficient comprehension in general learning, relation with professors n4 discrepancy in the method of study. According to opinions of students at each grade, students of the 4th grade showed more scepticism. 5. Particulars relative with their attitude and performance of study : As to their knowledge of the objectives of their study of subject, the majority was to study with a partial knowledge of the objectives of their study. As to the plan of study, a low percentage indicated management of routine life under regular scheduling. Students of the 4th grade responded to rather planned life. As to time spent in independent study, response to concentrated study when necessary was stronger than that to regular daily study. Students of the 4th grade showed stronger response to regular study than that of the 3rd grade. As to the contents of their note-taking, 67.4 percents of those students responded to such regulatory procedure performing in the lecture-hall as they listen to lectures. 17.3 percents of those students showed response to adding supplementary informations from references to what was entered in choir note-taking at their lecture-halls. 6. Particulars of library, references and reading books: As to receiving of instruction for the utilization of library and time of receiving such instruction 64.7 percents of those students had received such instruction. 66.7 percents of the those responded received such instruction at orientation conducted for freshmen. As to the convenience of the utilization of library, 49.9 percents of those students responded to convenience. However, students of the 3rd grade showed a much stronger response to inconvenience. As to the time of the utilization of library,92.5 percents of those students showed a response to occasional utilization for particular purpose than regular utilization. 53.2 percents of those students responded to ordinary in quantity that library have references. 34.2 percents of those students responded to insufficient. As to the particular relative with the method and field of reading: 53.5 percents of those students responded to intensive reading and was the majority. As to the reading field, fiction u as the majority. When read any books for their major, they usually rend Korean text-b, oks. 7. Particular relative with giving assignment: All respondents were well aware of the objectives of giving home tasks. As to the attitude toward assignments and performing home tasks, 54.8 percents of those students to making ostentatious study because of an excessive quantity of assignments imposed. For performing assignment, they showed comparatively positive response. Also, 52.2 percents of those students responded that they usually submitted complected assignment with references. 8. As to motive to realize the necessity of study : 55.6 percents of those students responded that they realized such necessity in communication with patients when they were engaged in clinical practice. Also, 8.6, the lowest percents of those students responded that they realized such necessity in the course of conversation with nurses when they were engaged in clinical practice. 9. As to the determination of their confidence in the performance of study relative with clinical experience: They showed a general inclination of having in nursing. The major response was that they came to well comprehend the patients families. the lowest response was that they could apply what was learned at lecture-hall to practice. This response incidentally showed the distance the lecture-hall and practical study. In general items, students of the 4th grade showed more favorable response than students of the 3rd grade and there was a significant difference. 10. As to the perception and attitude toward profession according to the motive of selecting the nursing science : Those who selected the nursing voluntarily showed stronger conception than those who selected the nursing through indirect influence. However, there was no significant difference on this point. Only there was a remarkable difference in the reading of Code for Nurses. 11. Those who showed a stronger conception in the profession of nursing according to the motives of attractive nursing science indicated a strong will and ability to manage stable life and comparatively strong response was shown in the management of good home life because of the good adaptability of the science to their character. This group showed a strong conception of the profession than those who responded that they prefer this profession out of a longing for the work of a hospital and for the easy obtaining of opportunity to immigrate to over seas and for economic cause and for high school grade. There was significant difference between these two groups, 12. As to the conception and attitude toward the profession of nursing according to benefits by scholarships, those who were benefitted by scholarship showed stronger conception of profession than those who did not receive scholarship and there was a remarkable difference between these two categories. However, there was no remarkable difference between these two categories in the extent of interest of the activities of nursing fields and in the reading of Code for Nurses. 13. As activation for study according to the benefits of scholarships, those who were benefitted by scholarships showed stronger response to the motive for study comparing with those who receive. 14. As to tile field of reading according to the benefits by scholarships, those who received scholarships tended to read autobiographies and essayers to a considerable extent. Those who did not receive scholarships tended to read novels. Those who received scholarships more read nursing boots than those who did not receive scholarships. 15. As to the attitude of study and doing of assignment according to benefits of scholarships, those who received scholarships managed a favorable life with schedules for study, More students of receiving scholarship showed a regular study for more than one hour per day. Also, in the method of doing home tasks, more students of receiving scholarship showed reference to relative books frequently for the submission of completed assignments.

  • PDF

Exploring the Objectives and Contents of Global Citizenship Education in the NSFCS 3.0: Focusing on the View of the 'World' and the Keywords (미국 국가 기준 가정과교육과정에 포함된 세계시민교육 관련 목표와 내용 탐색: '세계'관점과 핵심어를 중심으로)

  • Heo, Young-Sun;Kim, Nam-Eun;Chae, Jung Hyun
    • Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
    • /
    • v.33 no.3
    • /
    • pp.107-127
    • /
    • 2021
  • The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the content areas and competencies of the Family & Consumer Sciences National Standards(NSFCS 3.0) of the U. S. and UNESCO Global Citizenship Education(GCED). For this purpose, the global perspective, content areas and competencies in NSFCS 3.0 and the keywords related to the three areas of content areas of UNESCO GCED were analyzed. Specifically, the content standards and competencies related to the words 'world' or 'global' were extracted and their relationship to the GCED topics and keywords were analyzed. The results of the study are as follows. First, NSFCS 3.0 described the direct correlation between individuals and the world by recognizing individuals as global citizens in 14 areas except for 'interpersonal relations' and 'parenting', specifically using the keyword of 'world' in content standards and competencies. Second, in the content standards and competencies of NSFCS 3.0, the keywords related to the topics of GCED areas were presented evenly in the three areas of FCS, dietary habits, family life, and human development. The social and emotional areas were not presented in clothing, housing, and consumer life. On the other hand, the behavioral area, which is emphasized most in the GCED, is presented in all the FCS content areas. From this, it is apparent that the learning field for GCED may be considered as the area of life pursued by the home economics curriculum. The results of this study provide foundational bases for understanding the relationship between NSFCS 3.0 and the GCED, and implications as to how to implement the content of the GCED in the next revision of the national home economics curriculum of Korea.

Myelin Content in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Patients with Post-Concussion Syndrome: Quantitative Assessment with a Multidynamic Multiecho Sequence

  • Roh-Eul Yoo;Seung Hong Choi;Sung-Won Youn;Moonjung Hwang;Eunkyung Kim;Byung-Mo Oh;Ji Ye Lee;Inpyeong Hwang;Koung Mi Kang;Tae Jin Yun;Ji-hoon Kim;Chul-Ho Sohn
    • Korean Journal of Radiology
    • /
    • v.23 no.2
    • /
    • pp.226-236
    • /
    • 2022
  • Objective: This study aimed to explore the myelin volume change in patients with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) with post-concussion syndrome (PCS) using a multidynamic multiecho (MDME) sequence and automatic whole-brain segmentation. Materials and Methods: Forty-one consecutive mTBI patients with PCS and 29 controls, who had undergone MRI including the MDME sequence between October 2016 and April 2018, were included. Myelin volume fraction (MVF) maps were derived from the MDME sequence. After three dimensional T1-based brain segmentation, the average MVF was analyzed at the bilateral cerebral white matter (WM), bilateral cerebral gray matter (GM), corpus callosum, and brainstem. The Mann-Whitney U-test was performed to compare MVF and myelin volume between patients with mTBI and controls. Myelin volume was correlated with neuropsychological test scores using the Spearman rank correlation test. Results: The average MVF at the bilateral cerebral WM was lower in mTBI patients with PCS (median [interquartile range], 25.2% [22.6%-26.4%]) than that in controls (26.8% [25.6%-27.8%]) (p = 0.004). The region-of-interest myelin volume was lower in mTBI patients with PCS than that in controls at the corpus callosum (1.87 cm3 [1.70-2.05 cm3] vs. 2.21 cm3 [1.86-3.46 cm3]; p = 0.003) and brainstem (9.98 cm3 [9.45-11.00 cm3] vs. 11.05 cm3 [10.10-11.53 cm3]; p = 0.015). The total myelin volume was lower in mTBI patients with PCS than that in controls at the corpus callosum (0.45 cm3 [0.39-0.48 cm3] vs. 0.48 cm3 [0.45-0.54 cm3]; p = 0.004) and brainstem (1.45 cm3 [1.28-1.59 cm3] vs. 1.54 cm3 [1.42-1.67 cm3]; p = 0.042). No significant correlation was observed between myelin volume parameters and neuropsychological test scores, except for the total myelin volume at the bilateral cerebral WM and verbal learning test (delayed recall) (r = 0.425; p = 0.048). Conclusion: MVF quantified from the MDME sequence was decreased at the bilateral cerebral WM in mTBI patients with PCS. The total myelin volumes at the corpus callosum and brainstem were decreased in mTBI patients with PCS due to atrophic changes.

Dental Assistant and Dental Hygienist-comparison with U.S. (치과 보조 인력과 치과위생사-미국의 제도 비교)

  • Youngyuhn Choi
    • Journal of Korean Dental Hygiene Science
    • /
    • v.6 no.2
    • /
    • pp.65-77
    • /
    • 2023
  • Background: The shortage of dental hygienists as assistant is a great concern to dental clinics, while dental hygienists are rather pursuing the role of oral hygiene control and preventive treatments which is the main role for dental hygienists in the United States. The dental hygienist and dental assistant system in the United States can be a reference in these discussions. Methods: Educational requirements for licensure and work areas for dental hygienists and dental assistants were investigated through the information provided by the American Dental Association (ADA), American Dental Hygienists Association, National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE), Dental Assistants Association of America (ADAA), and Dental Assistants National Board (DANB). Results: In the United States, each state has different systems, but in general, dental hygienists obtain licenses after completing 2~3 years of associate degree programs in dental hygiene after obtaining basic learning skills, and mainly perform tasks related to patient screening procedures, oral hygiene management and preventive care. Dental assistants can take the license test after completing a training course of 9~11 months to obtain a dental assistant certification. Additional expanded work typically requires passing state qualification tests, completing a training program, obtaining a degree, or gaining clinical experience for a certain period of time, depending on the state Conclusion: The scope of work of dental hygienists designated by the Medical Engineer Act and the Enforcement Decree in Korea includes both the work of dental hygienists and dental assistants in the United States, and if a dental assistant system like the United States is introduced to address the current shortage of dental assistants, institutional supplementation such as adjustment of the scope of work and expansion of the role of dental hygienists in oral hygiene management and prevention work is needed and in-depth discussion is necessary.

Retail Product Development and Brand Management Collaboration between Industry and University Student Teams (산업여대학학생단대지간적령수산품개발화품패관리협작(产业与大学学生团队之间的零售产品开发和品牌管理协作))

  • Carroll, Katherine Emma
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
    • /
    • v.20 no.3
    • /
    • pp.239-248
    • /
    • 2010
  • This paper describes a collaborative project between academia and industry which focused on improving the marketing and product development strategies for two private label apparel brands of a large regional department store chain in the southeastern United States. The goal of the project was to revitalize product lines of the two brands by incorporating student ideas for new solutions, thereby giving the students practical experience with a real-life industry situation. There were a number of key players involved in the project. A privately-owned department store chain based in the southeastern United States which was seeking an academic partner had recognized a need to update two existing private label brands. They targeted middle-aged consumers looking for casual, moderately priced merchandise. The company was seeking to change direction with both packaging and presentation, and possibly product design. The branding and product development divisions of the company contacted professors in an academic department of a large southeastern state university. Two of the professors agreed that the task would be a good fit for their classes - one was a junior-level Intermediate Brand Management class; the other was a senior-level Fashion Product Development class. The professors felt that by working collaboratively on the project, students would be exposed to a real world scenario, within the security of an academic learning environment. Collaboration within an interdisciplinary team has the advantage of providing experiences and resources beyond the capabilities of a single student and adds "brainpower" to problem-solving processes (Lowman 2000). This goal of improving the capabilities of students directed the instructors in each class to form interdisciplinary teams between the Branding and Product Development classes. In addition, many universities are employing industry partnerships in research and teaching, where collaboration within temporal (semester) and physical (classroom/lab) constraints help to increase students' knowledge and experience of a real-world situation. At the University of Tennessee, the Center of Industrial Services and UT-Knoxville's College of Engineering worked with a company to develop design improvements in its U.S. operations. In this study, Because should be lower case b with a private label retail brand, Wickett, Gaskill and Damhorst's (1999) revised Retail Apparel Product Development Model was used by the product development and brand management teams. This framework was chosen because it addresses apparel product development from the concept to the retail stage. Two classes were involved in this project: a junior level Brand Management class and a senior level Fashion Product Development class. Seven teams were formed which included four students from Brand Management and two students from Product Development. The classes were taught the same semester, but not at the same time. At the beginning of the semester, each class was introduced to the industry partner and given the problem. Half the teams were assigned to the men's brand and half to the women's brand. The teams were responsible for devising approaches to the problem, formulating a timeline for their work, staying in touch with industry representatives and making sure that each member of the team contributed in a positive way. The objective for the teams was to plan, develop, and present a product line using merchandising processes (following the Wickett, Gaskill and Damhorst model) and develop new branding strategies for the proposed lines. The teams performed trend, color, fabrication and target market research; developed sketches for a line; edited the sketches and presented their line plans; wrote specifications; fitted prototypes on fit models, and developed final production samples for presentation to industry. The branding students developed a SWOT analysis, a Brand Measurement report, a mind-map for the brands and a fully integrated Marketing Report which was presented alongside the ideas for the new lines. In future if the opportunity arises to work in this collaborative way with an existing company who wishes to look both at branding and product development strategies, classes will be scheduled at the same time so that students have more time to meet and discuss timelines and assigned tasks. As it was, student groups had to meet outside of each class time and this proved to be a challenging though not uncommon part of teamwork (Pfaff and Huddleston, 2003). Although the logistics of this exercise were time-consuming to set up and administer, professors felt that the benefits to students were multiple. The most important benefit, according to student feedback from both classes, was the opportunity to work with industry professionals, follow their process, and see the results of their work evaluated by the people who made the decisions at the company level. Faculty members were grateful to have a "real-world" case to work with in the classroom to provide focus. Creative ideas and strategies were traded as plans were made, extending and strengthening the departmental links be tween the branding and product development areas. By working not only with students coming from a different knowledge base, but also having to keep in contact with the industry partner and follow the framework and timeline of industry practice, student teams were challenged to produce excellent and innovative work under new circumstances. Working on the product development and branding for "real-life" brands that are struggling gave students an opportunity to see how closely their coursework ties in with the real-world and how creativity, collaboration and flexibility are necessary components of both the design and business aspects of company operations. Industry personnel were impressed by (a) the level and depth of knowledge and execution in the student projects, and (b) the creativity of new ideas for the brands.