Hit by Weibull: Play to Learn Now!
Hit by Weibull: Play to Learn Now!

Summary/Abstract: A major goal of today’s teaching pedagogy is to fine-tune the acquired theoretical Mathematics models in order to address hands-on problems. More specifically, among the probability distribution laws which students are supposed to know, the Weibull distribution plays a very important role, due to its versatility and wide range of real-life applications. In order to stress the importance of the specific scientific uses of the Weibull distribution, we have designed an e-learning game which confronts students with some of the real life problems to which this distribution law can be successfully applied. In fact, the player’s role in applying the Weibull distribution is to correctly determine the parameters which correspond to the recorded data of an observed system. Since this distribution law characterizes issues associated to the reliability and survival rate of the components of a system, we have imagined a game scenario featuring a catastrophic computer virus attack. The challenge of the unresponsive software systems and the failure of all performing antivirus programs, demands the urgent intervention of a competent student team. The fictional second year Politehnica students’ team steps in and analyzes the situation by making use of their acquired Mathematical statistics skills. The students’ team discovers, by means of the Weibull distribution law, that there is a hidden batch file which infected the PCs, a file associated with the visualization of a certain web page. The malign website is meant to hack personal data out of end users’ computers. This aggression, in turn, is needed in order to determine users to move their files in a newly launched cloud storage app. The aim of the cloud storage app is unlawful data mining in order to serve the ambitious marketing purposes of a big fashion label.

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