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Article Citation - WoS: 4Citation - Scopus: 8Remote Rf Laboratory Requirements: Engineers' and Technicians' Perspective(Anadolu Univ, 2007) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Aydin, Elif Uray; Kara, Ali; Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering; Software EngineeringThis study aims to find out requirements and needs to be fulfilled in developing remote Radio Frequency (RF) laboratory. Remote laboratories are newly emerging solutions for better supporting of e-learning platforms and for increasing their efficiency and effectiveness in technical education. By this way, modern universities aim to provide lifelong learning environments to extend their education for a wider area and support learners anytime and anywhere when they need help. However, as far as the authors concern, there is no study investigating the requirements and needs of remote laboratories in that particular field in the literature. This study is based on electrical engineers' and technicians' perspectives on the requirements of a remote laboratory in RF domain. Its scope covers investigation of the participants' perceptions toward computer mediated communication and it attempts to answer the questions: which studying strategies are preferred by the learners and what kind of RF laboratory content should be provided. The analysis of the results showed that, geographic independence, finding quickly the elements of past communication and temporal independence are declared as the most important advantages of computer-mediated communication. However, reading significant amount of information is a problem of these environments. In the context of how to show the content, respondents want to see shorter text on the screen. Therefore the instructions should include little amount of text and must be supported with figures and interactive elements. The instructional materials developed for such learner groups should support both linear and non-linear instructions. While analyzing the content to be provided, we have seen that, most of the participants do not have access to high level equipments and traditional experiments are considered as the necessary ones for both engineers and technicians.Article Citation - WoS: 3Citation - Scopus: 3Expectancy From, and Acceptance of Augmented Reality in Dental Education Programs: a Structural Equation Model(Wiley, 2024) Toker, Sacip; Akay, Canan; Basmaci, Fulya; Kilicarslan, Mehmet Ali; Mumcu, Emre; Cagiltay, Nergiz ErcilObjectiveDental schools need hands-on training and feedback. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies enable remote work and training. Education programs only partially integrated these technologies. For better technology integration, infrastructure readiness, prior-knowledge readiness, expectations, and learner attitudes toward AR and VR technologies must be understood together. Thus, this study creates a structural equation model to understand how these factors affect dental students' technology use.MethodsA correlational survey was done. Four questionnaires were sent to 755 dental students from three schools. These participants were convenience-sampled. Surveys were developed using validity tests like explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, and composite reliability. Ten primary research hypotheses are tested with path analysis.ResultsA total of 81.22% responded to the survey (755 out of 930). Positive AR attitude, expectancy, and acceptance were endogenous variables. Positive attitudes toward AR were significantly influenced by two exogenous variables: infrastructure readiness (B = 0.359, beta = 0.386, L = 0.305, U = 0.457, p = 0.002) and prior-knowledge readiness (B = -0.056, beta = 0.306, L = 0.305, U = 0.457, p = 0.002). Expectancy from AR was affected by infrastructure, prior knowledge, and positive and negative AR attitudes. Infrastructure, prior-knowledge readiness, and positive attitude toward AR had positive effects on expectancy from AR (B = 0.201, beta = 0.204, L = 0.140, U = 0.267, p = 0.002). Negative attitude had a negative impact (B = -0.056, beta = -0.054, L = 0.091, U = 0.182, p = 0.002). Another exogenous variable was AR acceptance, which was affected by infrastructure, prior-knowledge preparation, positive attitudes, and expectancy. Significant differences were found in infrastructure, prior-knowledge readiness, positive attitude toward AR, and expectancy from AR (B = 0.041, beta = 0.046, L = 0.026, U = 0.086, p = 0.054).ConclusionInfrastructure and prior-knowledge readiness for AR significantly affect positive AR attitudes. Together, these three criteria boost AR's potential. Infrastructure readiness, prior-knowledge readiness, positive attitudes toward AR, and AR expectations all increase AR adoption. The study provides insights that can help instructional system designers, developers, dental education institutions, and program developers better integrate these technologies into dental education programs. Integration can improve dental students' hands-on experience and program performance by providing training options anywhere and anytime.Article Citation - WoS: 2Evaluation of the Effects of Avatar on Learning Temporomandibular Joint in a Metaverse-Based Training(Wiley, 2024) Basmaci, Fulya; Bulut, Ali Can; Ozcelik, Erol; Ekici, Saliha Zerdali; Kilicarslan, Mehmet Ali; Cagiltay, Nergiz ErcilPurposeAvatars, representing users in the digital world, can influence users' behavior and attitudes. This study evaluates the impact of representing dental students receiving temporomandibular joint (TMJ) education in the metaverse via an anonymous or identified avatar.MethodsParticipants included 80 dental students in their fourth and fifth years of study. They were randomly assigned to either the avatar group (identified avatar) or the control group (anonymous avatar). Prior to training, participants completed a demographic questionnaire and a pretraining knowledge assessment. TMJ training was conducted in the metaverse for both groups. Pre- and post-training assessments included the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and a shyness scale to ensure group comparability. A post-test consisting of five questions was administered to both groups after 2 weeks of training.ResultsThere were no significant differences in pretraining scores for prior knowledge (p = 0.67), trait anxiety (p = 0.28), state anxiety (p = 0.92), or shyness (p = 0.42) between the avatar and control groups, indicating comparability at baseline. Post-training analysis revealed significantly higher post-test scores in the avatar group (median = 80) compared to the control group (median = 60) (p = 0.03).ConclusionsMetaverse environments offer various benefits for students, educators, and educational institutions in health education programs. Representing learners and their identities in training environments can enhance learning outcomes.Article Citation - WoS: 12Citation - Scopus: 13The Effect of Training, Used-Hand, and Experience on Endoscopic Surgery Skills in an Educational Computer-Based Simulation Environment (ece) for Endoneurosurgery Training(Sage Publications inc, 2019) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Ozcelik, Erol; Isikay, Ilkay; Hanalioglu, Sahin; Suslu, Ahmet E.; Yucel, Taskin; Berker, MustafaToday, virtual simulation environments create alternative hands-on practice opportunities for surgical training. In order to increase the potential benefits of such environments, it is critical to understand the factors that influence them. This study was conducted to determine the effects of training, used-hand, and experience, as well as the interactions between these variables, on endoscopic surgery skills in an educational computer-based surgical simulation environment. A 2-hour computer-based endoneurosurgery simulation training module was developed for this study. Thirty-one novice- and intermediate-level resident surgeons from the departments of neurosurgery and ear, nose, and throat participated in this experimental study. The results suggest that a 2-hour training during a 2-month period through computer-based simulation environment improves the surgical skills of the residents in both-hand tasks, which is necessary for endoscopic surgical procedures but not in dominant hand tasks. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that computer-based simulation environments potentially improve surgical skills; however, the scenarios for such training modules need to consider especially the bimanual coordination of hands and should be regularly adapted to the individual skill levels and progresses.Article Citation - WoS: 7Citation - Scopus: 7Classification of Intermediate and Novice Surgeons' Skill Assessment Through Performance Metrics(Sage Publications inc, 2019) Topalli, Damla; Cagiltay, Nergiz ErcilBackground. Endoscopic surgeries have become an alternative for open procedures whenever possible. For such types of operations, surgeons are required to gain several skills, whose development needs hands-on practice. Accordingly, gaining these skills today is a challenge for surgical education programs. Despite the development of several technology-enhanced training environments, there are still problems to better integrate these technologies into educational programs. For an appropriate integration, it is critical to assess the skill levels and adapt the training content according to the trainees' requirements. In the literature, there exist several methods for assessing these skill levels. However, there are still problems in practice for objective and repetitive assessment. Methods. The present study aims to estimate the skill levels of participants in surgical training programs in an objective manner by collecting experimental data from residents in an endoscopic surgical simulation environment and gathering performance metrics. Results. It is shown that, by comparing the results of a number of classification algorithms for the best accuracy estimation and feature set, the "novice" and "intermediate" skill levels can be estimated with an accuracy of 86%. Conclusions. The outcomes help surgical educators and instructional system designers to better assess the skill levels of the trainees and guide them accordingly. In addition, objective assessments as highlighted in this study can be beneficial when designing technology-enhanced adaptive learning environments.Article Citation - WoS: 6Citation - Scopus: 7An Enhanced Course in Digital Communications(Tempus Publications, 2014) Kara, Ali; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Dalveren, Yaser; Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering; Software EngineeringToday technological improvements provide several alternatives and opportunities for improving traditional educational systems. However, integrating these technologies in an appropriate and successful way into the curriculum of traditional systems is a challenge. This work presents the enhancements added to an undergraduate course on Digital Communications which is an introductory course offered to senior undergraduates or first year graduate students. The Digital Communications course covers some essential stages in a typical digital communication system, namely, signal formatting such as analog to digital conversion, baseband modulation and bandpass modulation by concentrating on demodulation and detection at the receiver end. The enhancements include computer simulations, web-based simulation tools and remote laboratory experiments along with several out of class activities. The enhancements have improved the course significantly by supporting constructivist and blended learning methods. The improvement to the course was demonstrated over two years, from the student progress assessed from the collated results of the student evaluation forms and a questionnaire on the course learning outcomes, and a comparison of their performance in the written exams. The results show that there is a significant improvement both in the progress and satisfaction of the students on the enhanced course curriculum. This study shows how different technologies have been successfully integrated to the curriculum of Digital Communications course in a higher education organization and concludes its success factors.Article Citation - WoS: 22Citation - Scopus: 26Insights From Pupil Size To Mental Workload of Surgical Residents: Feasibility of an Educational Computer-Based Surgical Simulation Environment (ece) Considering the Hand Condition(Sage Publications inc, 2018) Dalveren, Gonca Gokce Menekse; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Ozcelik, Erol; Maras, HakanThe advantage of simulation environments is that they present various insights into real situations, where experimental research opportunities are very limited-for example, in endoscopic surgery. These operations require simultaneous use of both hands. For this reason, surgical residents need to develop several motor skills, such as eye-hand coordination and left-right hand coordination. While performing these tasks, the hand condition (dominant, nondominant, both hands) creates different degrees of mental workload, which can be assessed through mental physiological measures-namely, pupil size. Studies show that pupil size grows in direct proportion to mental workload. However, in the literature, there are very limited studies exploring this workload through the pupil sizes of the surgical residents under different hand conditions. Therefore, in this study, we present a computer-based simulation of a surgical task using eye-tracking technology to better understand the influence of the hand condition on the performance of skill-based surgical tasks in a computer-based simulated environment. The results show that under the both-hand condition, the pupil size of the surgical residents is larger than the one under the dominant and nondominant hand conditions. This indicates that when the computer-simulated surgical task is performed with both hands, it is considered more difficult than in the dominant and nondominant hand conditions. In conclusion, this study shows that pupil size measurements are sufficiently feasible to estimate the mental workload of the participants while performing surgical tasks. The results of this study can be used as a guide by instructional system designers of skill-based training programs.Article Randomised Comparison Between Navigation and Non-Navigation Camera Control Performance in a Surgical Simulation Task Using a Haptic Device Interface(Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2026) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Topalli, Damla; Tuner, Emre; Berker, MustafaIntroduction:Navigation skills for controlling the camera in the surgical field are critical for many minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures. Currently, endoscopes lack integrated navigation aids, making camera control a challenging task. This experimental study aims to investigate the effect of navigation guidance on the performance of beginners.Patients and Methods:A custom computer-based simulation environment was developed for this study, featuring two conditions - one with navigation guidance and one without - focussed on a camera-cleaning task. Participants (64 beginners) were randomly assigned to one of these groups and used two haptic devices to simulate the endoscope and surgical tools.Results:Participants in the guided condition performed significantly better than those in the unguided condition. Notably, female participants completed the task in significantly less time under the guided condition compared to the unguided one.Conclusion:These findings suggest that incorporating navigation aids into endoscope interfaces could improve user performance, especially for beginners. Medical device manufacturers should consider adding navigation features to enhance usability. In addition, simulation-based instructional systems should integrate navigation aids to better support surgical training.Article Post-Pandemic Hybrid Curriculum Recommendations for an Undergraduate Ict Senior Project Course(Tempus Publications, 2023) Tirkes, Guzin; Kalem, Guler; Kilic, Hurevren; Cagiltay, Nergiz ErcilAmong the numerous aspects of everyday life affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, education stands out as one of those deeply impacted. In this context within university settings, the ICT senior project courses were no exception either. This study presents the recommendations for a hybrid curriculum based on the online implementation of a senior project course in the ICT departments of an engineering faculty. The data were collected to better understand the impact of this re-structured course on 99 undergraduate IT students and their projects during three semesters, and later analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to obtain some insights. The results indicate that, during the pandemic, the students adapted their senior project studies to the related restrictions by changing certain aspects related to the project, improving their teamwork, and increasing the level of communication. However, they also reported certain problems related to their overall psychology as well as social interactions. In light of the pandemic effect on the software industry towards remote working environments, further suggestions are provided to eliminate the drawbacks of remote working reported by the students and to equip them with the necessary skills. The resulting recommendations could be used by other higher -education institutions and be further adjusted for application in other disciplines.
