An exploratory study was conducted to evaluate a web-based learning module for teaching Geographic Information Systems to civil engineering students within the context of a problem related to crash data analysis. This module is one part of a National Science Foundation Course, Curricula, and Laboratory Improvement Project in which GIS modules are being developed for several areas of civil engineering. The module was used as a laboratory assignment in a transportation engineering course. Two days later students completed both an objective multiple choice quiz over the material covered in the lab and a subjective questionnaire. Quantitative analysis was carried out on the quiz answers and the Likert scale portion of the questionnaire. A qualitative grounded-theory open-coding analysis was applied to the open-ended questionnaire items. This analysis provided more detail regarding the perceived usefulness of the module. Combined analysis revealed a link between students' perceived usefulness of the material and their motivation to learn. Analysis also supported the learning tool's effectiveness and justified its further implementation and investigation.

Uniform flowerlike microspheres Cd2+/Fe3+ co-doped BiOBr were prepared with the aid of the microwave hydrothermal process. The results indicate that the degradation performance of Bi1−xCdxOBr and Bi1−xFexOBr are 1.31 and 2.05 times that of BiOBr for RhB, respectively. Moreover, the novel Cd2+/Fe3+ co-doped BiOBr photocatalysts with ~0.42 eV impurity bands presented remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activities with being 3.10 times that of pure BiOBr, by achieving e−/h+ efficient separation and narrowed bandgap with the ions synergistic effect of Cd2+ and Fe3+. Based on DFT insights, the photodegradation mechanism was systematically studied that the conversion of multivalent Fe3+ ions promoted the production of •O2−, and Cd2+ ions worked as electron transfer mediators, which elucidated that the •O2− and h+VB mainly participated in the catalytic reaction. The experimental and theoretical results show that the synergistic effects of multi-ion doping have great potential in the field of photocatalysis.

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