Les concepts d’architecture orientée service (SOA) ainsi que tout une panoplie de technologies «en tant que service» (XaaS) sont utilisés quasiment partout de nos jours, et l’organisation optimisée d’activités synchronisées devient un défi important. Dans le but de proposer à l’utilisateur final un service sécuritaire et fiable sans compromettre la qualité, les questions concernant la vérification et la validation des compositions des services deviennent d’un grand intérêt tant théorique que pratique. Dans les autres travaux traitant du sujet, de nombreux modèles et techniques sont proposés, mais la plupart mettent l’accent sur les aspects fonctionnels ou non-fonctionnels pris séparément, alors que l’intégration de ces paramètres en un modèle formel unifié reste un problème qui doit être résolu – ce qui est devenu par conséquent un des objectifs fondamentaux de cette thèse. Dans notre travail, nous réfléchissons aux problèmes de la vérification et de l’optimisation des compositions des services web. Tout ceci est étudié dans l’optique de la fonctionnalité des systèmes, de leur qualité et de la sécurité des compositions. Il a été prouvé que les modèles à états finis sont utiles à des fins de tests et de vérification, de même que pour le contrôle qualité à chaque étape du développement du service. C’est pour cette raison que nous proposons d’utiliser le modèle de machine temporisée à états finis (TFSM) pour intégrer une description fonctionnelle du service avec les paramètres de sécurité et de qualité liées au temps. L’extension du modèle permettra alors d’interpréter adéquatement le non-déterminisme significatif causé par un manque d’observabilité ou/et de contrôle sur les services tiers. Dans le but d’optimiser les compositions des systèmes, nous proposons une méthode pour dériver la solution la plus globale contenant tous les composants autorisés pour la mise en œuvre du service, basée sur la résolution de l’équation parallèle du TFSM. Ensuite, les techniques pour extraire des solutions restreintes avec les propriétés requises (paramètres de temps minimisé/maximisé, interblocages actifs ou passifs de sécurité, similarité avec le composant d’origine donné, etc.) ont été proposées. Dans le cas où les spécifications d’un service composite consistent en un ensemble d’exigences fonctionnelles, éventuellement renforcées par des exigences de qualité, nous proposons une technique de minimisation de l’ensemble, dans le respect du composant à optimiser. L’application des résultats obtenus à la découverte et à la mise en place de composants plus efficaces, ainsi que l’extension du modèle à des modes de communication plus complexes font partie des sujets possibles pour des études futures. / Service-oriented architecture (SOA) together with a family of Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) concepts nowadays are used almost everywhere, and the proper organization of collaborative activities becomes an important challenge. With the goal of bringing to the end-user safe and reliable service with the guaranteed level of quality, issues of service compositions verification and validation become of high practical and theoretical interest. In the related works, numerous models and techniques are proposed, but mostly focused on functional and non-functional issues in isolation, while integration of these parameters within unified formal framework still remains a problem to be solved – and therefore became one of the core objectives of this thesis. In our work, we address the problems of web service composition verification and optimization with respect to functional, quality and safety properties of the composition. Finite state models are proven to be useful for testing and verification purposes as well as for service quality evaluation at each step of service development. Therefore, we propose to use the model of Finite State Machine with Timeouts (TFSM) for integrating functional service description with time-related quality and safety parameters, and derive the extension of the model in order to adequately inherit significant nondeterminism due to the lack of observability and control over third-party component services. For the purpose of component optimization in the composition, we propose a method for deriving the largest solution containing all allowed component service implementations, based on solving TFSM parallel equation. Further, techniques for extracting restricted solutions with required properties (minimized/maximized time parameters, deadlock- and livelock-safety, similarity to the initially given component, etc.) have been proposed. In cases when the specification of a composite service is provided as a set of functional requirements, possibly, augmented with quality requirements, we propose a technique to minimize this set with respect to the component under optimization. Application of the obtained results for more efficient candidate component services discovery and binding, alongside with extending the framework for more complex distributed modes of communications, are among the topics for the future work.

I detta examensarbete har ett IT-verktyg utvecklats som stödjer kvalitetsutvärderingen av en ingenjörsutbildning. I dagsläget innehåller kvalitetsutvärderingen flera moment som kräver manuell hantering av data. IT-verktyget automatiserar ett flertal av momenten och detta effektiviserar arbetet genom tidsbesparing och minskad risk för misstag. Examensarbetets syfte är således att underlätta genomförandet av kvalitetsutvärderingen genom automatisering. Metoden för arbetet är en fallstudie vid en av Sveriges ingenjörsutbildningar. Metodvalet ger möjlighet till verkliga tester och evidens för att kontrollera och påvisa att det utvecklade verktyget fungerar i enlighet med de behov som finns. Resultatet av detta examensarbete är ett IT-verktyg som stödjer, underlättar, förfinar och förtydligar kvalitetsutvärdering av ingenjörsutbildning på grundnivå. Verktyget är byggt med tjänster ur Google:s utbud, där användargränssnittet utgörs av produktivitetsapplikationerna Sheets och Forms. Skriptplattformen Apps Script tillför automatisering av repetitiva moment och möjliggör att applikationerna kan sammanlänkas med en databas i molntjänsten Cloud SQL. IT-verktyget bedöms även kunna fungera för andra typer av utbildningar som kvalitetsprövas mot lärandemål och examensmål. / In this thesis an information technology tool is developed to support quality evaluation of an engineering education. Presently the quality evaluation contains several steps that require data to be handled manually. The information technology tool automates several of the steps. This leads to increased work efficiency and reduces the risk of mistakes. The purpose of the thesis is therefor to facilitate the quality evaluation through automatization. The method chosen for development is a case study conducted at a Swedish engineering program. The choice of method makes it possible to conduct tests based on an actual education program to verify and show that the developed tool is functioning correctly according to existing needs. The result of this thesis is a working information technology tool that supports, refines and concretizes quality measurement of engineering education at a bachelor level. The tool is built using services provided by Google. The productivity apps Sheets and Forms are utilized as the user interface, and used in conjunction with the scripting platform Apps Script, the apps are connected with a cloud database in the Cloud SQL service. The tool is assumed to work for other types of educations that are quality checked using intended learning outcomes and examination objectives.

Particulate matter is a growing health concern that is considered to contribute to many diseases. To develop appropriate air filtration systems, we need to understand how particulate matter affects air filters. In this project, we implement an automated data acquisition system for an air filter test rig. The data acquisition system allows us to gather empirical data on how particle matter affects air filters over time. Although the quality of the air filters does not reach critical levels, there is a measurable degradation. The collected data is used to train and validate a machine learning model that can evaluate air filter quality. This machine learning proved to be a powerful tool in air filter evaluation and performs with 99% accuracy on test data. The result of this project is a fully functioning data acquisition system along with a user interface that considerably reduces the number of man-hours needed to perform tests of filters. In addition, the automated data acquisition system can notify the operator when the rig needs a change of filter or when certain faults occur. Unfortunately, the project did not reach its original goal of being able to automatically determine when the test rig needs maintenance or re-calibration. / Luftburna partiklar är en växande hälsorisk som anses bidra till ohälsa. För att utveckla lämpliga luftfiltreringssystem måste en bättre förståelse nås för hur luftburna partiklar degraderar luftfilter. I det här projektet så implementeras ett automatiskt datainsamlingssystem i en testrigg för luftfilter. Datainsamlingssystemet samlar in empiriska data för hur luftburna partiklar degraderar filter över tid. Även om luftfiltren inte når kritiska nivåer, visar testerna på en mätbar degradering. Insamlat data används för att träna och validera en maskininlärningsmodell för att utvärdera filterkvalitet. Maskininlärning visade sig vara en kraftfull metod för att utvärdera luftfilter med 99% noggrannhet för testdata. Resultatet av det här projektet är ett fullt fungerande datainsamlingssystem tillsammans med ett användargränssnitt som avsevärt minskar tidsåtgången för att utföra test och utvärdera filter. Dessutom kan det automatiska datainsamlingssystemet meddela operatören när riggen behöver byta filter eller när vissa fel uppstår. Återstående arbete består i att implementera när testriggen behöver service eller kalibrering.

Актуальность темы обусловлена заинтересованностью руководителей в поиске инструментов для оценки эффективности основной деятельности предприятия, в частности качества обработки обращений, поступающих в текстовые каналы контактных центров, с целью рационального распределения располагаемых ресурсов и принятия решений для повышения конкурентоспособности конечной продукции и услуг. Научная новизна состоит в том, что были проанализированы существующие подходы к управлению менеджментом качества работы операторов, в результате чего было выявлено отсутствие инструментов для оценки качества обслуживания с учётом значимых критериев для той отрасли, в рамках которой осуществляется обработка обращений. На основании чего была предложена методика оценки качества работы операторов контактных центров, включающая формулу для оценки качества с возможностью определения значимых отраслевых критериев, прототип формы для оценки качества работы операторов, а также общий алгоритм анализа эффективности труда операторов текстовых каналов. Практическая значимость работы заключается в том, что предлагаемую методику оценки качества работы операторов текстовых каналов контактных центров можно использовать для оценки и дальнейшего анализа показателей с целью улучшения качества реализуемых услуг и повышения конкурентоспособности конечной продукции. / The relevance of the topic is due to the interest of managers in finding tools to assess the effectiveness of the main activity of the enterprise, in particular, the quality of processing requests received in the text channels of contact centers, in order to rationally allocate available resources and make decisions to increase the competitiveness of final products and services. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that the existing approaches to managing the quality of operators' work were analyzed, as a result of which the lack of tools for assessing the quality of service was revealed, taking into account significant criteria for the industry in which requests are processed. Based on this, a methodology for assessing the quality of work of contact center operators was proposed, including a formula for assessing quality with the possibility of determining significant industry criteria, a prototype form for evaluating the quality of operators' work, as well as a general algorithm for analyzing the efficiency of text channel operators. The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that the proposed methodology for assessing the quality of work of operators of text channels of contact centers can be used to evaluate and further analyze indicators in order to improve the quality of services sold and increase the competitiveness of final products.

No description available.

Development of a game in the form of software for game-based learning poses significant technical challenges for educators, researchers, game designers, and software engineers. The game development consists of a set of complex processes requiring multi-faceted knowledge in multiple disciplines such as digital graphic design, education, gaming, instructional design, modeling and simulation, psychology, software engineering, visual arts, and the learning subject area. Planning and managing such a complex multidisciplinary development project require unifying methodologies for development and software quality evaluation and should not be performed in an ad hoc manner. This dissertation presents such methodologies named: GAMED (diGital educAtional gaMe dEvelopment methoDology) and IDEALLY (dIgital eDucational gamE softwAre quaLity evaLuation methodologY). GAMED consists of a body of methods, rules, and postulates and is embedded within a digital educational game life cycle. The life cycle describes a framework for organization of the phases, processes, work products, quality assurance activities, and project management activities required to develop, use, maintain, and evolve a digital educational game from birth to retirement. GAMED provides a modular structured approach for overcoming the development complexity and guides the developers throughout the entire life cycle. IDEALLY provides a hierarchy of 111 indicators consisting of 21 branch and 90 leaf indicators in the form of an acyclic graph for the measurement and evaluation of digital educational game software quality. We developed the GAMED and IDEALLY methodologies based on the experiences and knowledge we have gained in creating and publishing four digital educational games that run on the iOS (iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch) mobile devices: CandyFactory, CandySpan, CandyDepot, and CandyBot. The two methodologies provide a quality-centered structured approach for development of digital educational games and are essential for accomplishing demanding goals of game-based learning. Moreover, classifications provided in the literature are inadequate for the game designers, engineers and practitioners. To that end, we present a taxonomy of games that focuses on the characterization of games. / Ph. D.

The research reported in this thesis is an extension and application of the results first introduced by the Procedural Approach to the Evaluation of Software Development Methodologies. The evaluation procedure offers a unique perspective based on the philosophy that a software development methodology should espouse a set of objectives that are achieved by employing certain U principles throughout the software development process, such that the products generated possess certain attributes deemed desirable. Further, definite linkages exist between objectives and principles, and principles and attributes. The work described herein adopts the perspective offered by the evaluation procedure and applies a critical analysis to the process-product relationships in DoD-STD-2l67 and DoD-STD-2l68. In support of the analysis, Augmented Data Flow Diagrams are introduced as an effective tool for concisely capturing the information in both standards. The results of the analysis offer a deeper insight into the requirements for defense system software development, such that one is able to better understand the development process, and more intelligently assess the quality of the software and documentation produced. / Master of Science

Il lavoro di tesi ha come oggetto la valutazione della qualità relazionale dei servizi offerti dal Centro disabilità neuromotorie infantili della Fondazione Ariel e ha come obiettivi l’approfondimento teorico e metodologico dell’approccio relazionale riflessivo alla valutazione, con attenzione alle connessioni tra valutazione e dimensioni organizzative dei servizi alla persona e alla famiglia. Questo approccio multidimensionale e multivision della qualità fa riferimento ad alcune macro-dimensioni organizzative del benessere relazionale generato da un servizio sociale: l’efficienza, l’efficacia, la qualità integrativa, la qualità etica dei fini. Questa prospettiva riflessiva e partecipata di valutazione costituisce un’opportunità per cogliere, descrivere e giudicare il bene comune relazionale generato da un servizio alla persona e alla famiglia in un contesto di bisogni sociali in mutamento, dove strategiche sono personalizzazione e alla familiarizzazione dei servizi. Oltre al potenziale conoscitivo, la valutazione della qualità relazionale dedica particolare attenzione al potenziale trasformativo e morfogenetico della leva valutativa. Metodologicamente l’analisi condotta è stata di tipo quanto-qualitativo. Sono state realizzate interviste semi-strutturate con gli operatori del Centro e una dettagliata analisi della documentazione. Il lavoro partecipato ha condotto alla costruzione di questionario di 35 variabili che è stato esitato da 167 famiglie beneficiarie. Oltre ad un’analisi monovariata dei risultati del questionario sono stati costruiti alcuni indici sintetici su alcune dimensioni critiche della qualità relazionale. / The work relates to evaluation of relational quality of the services offered by Foundation Ariel’s childhood neuromotor disabilities Center . The objectives are the methodological and theoretical study of the relational reflexive evaluation approach, with attention to the connections between evaluation and organizational dimensions services to individuals and families. This multidimensional and multi-vision quality model refers to some macro-organizational dimensions of relational well-being generated by social services: efficiency, effectiveness, quality integration, the quality of ethical purposes. This reflective and participatory evaluation perspective is an opportunity to capture, describe and assess the common good relationship generated by a service to individuals and families, which are strategic to the familiarization and customization in a context of changing social needs. In addition, relational quality evaluation pays particular attention to the transformative and morphogenetic potential of evaluation. Methodologically, the analysis was quanto-qualitative. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with operators of the Centre and a detailed analysis of the documentation was done. The work led to the construction of a questionnaire of 35 variables, which 167 beneficiary families have responded to. Besides monovariata analysis of the results of the questionnaire, some synthetic indexes of some critical dimensions of relational quality were constructed.

Volume 14 of publication series EINGEBETTETE, SELBSTORGANISIERENDE SYSTEME is devoted to the structure oriented evaluation of e-learning. For future knowledge society, beside creation of intelligent technologies, adapted methods of knowledge transfer are required. In this context e-learning becomes a key technology for development of any education system. E-learning is a complex process into which many different groups with specific tasks and roles are included. The dynamics of an e-learning process requires adjusted quality management. For that corresponding evaluation methods are needed. In the present work, Dr.Tudevdagva develops a new evaluation approach for e-learning. The advantage of her method is that in contrast to linear evaluation methods no weight factors are needed and the logical goal structure of an elearning process can be involved into evaluation. Based on general measure theory structure oriented score calculation rules are derived. The so obtained score function satisfies the same calculation rules as they are known from normalised measures. In statistical generalisation, these rules allow the structure oriented calculation of empirical evaluation scores based on checklist data. By these scores the quality can be described by which an e-learning has reached its total goal. Moreover, a consistent evaluation of embedded partial processes of an e-learning becomes possibly. The presented score calculation rules are part of a eight step evaluation model which is illustrated by pilot samples. U. Tudevdagva’s structure oriented evaluation model (SURE model) is by its embedding into the general measure theory quite universal applicable. In similar manner, an evaluation of efficiency of administration or organisation processes becomes possible.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:53:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 SolangeMT_DISSERT.pdf: 1423299 bytes, checksum: 06c560710dc5a0166e9f2bf0e8adbf64 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-12-16 / The Expansion Plan of the Federal Network of Vocational Education foresees the construction of 860 new units of instruction until 2020, representing a strong growth against the 140 existing units prior to its disclosure by Federal Government of Brazil, in 2005. The Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology have been performing the expansion while experiencing the shortcomings and challenges of units still in development, created in previous phases of the Plan. The quality of the services of these institutions has been evaluated by the control bodies, which require the submission of performance indicators in annual management reports of institutions under their jurisdiction. In this context of expansion process, particularly, is desirable to identify possible changes in quality standards. Thus, this research was motivated by the following problem: there was difference in the performance of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science and Technology after the inauguration of the first units of phase II of the Expansion Plan of the Federal Network of Vocational Education? This is an exploratory-descriptive, ex-post-facto, quantitative approach research, which aims to contribute to the knowledge of the impact of the expansion of the Federal Network. The data were collected from 12 indicators presented in management reports of 38 Federal Institutes through years 2007 to 2011 to evaluate the performances using descriptive statistical techniques. The indicators were analyzed in both consolidated and open manners by the following perspectives: country region, growth of instruction units and institutions origin. Was also performed a multivariate analysis of clusters in order to identify excellence groups of Institutes. The results showed differences in the expansion plan s development among Brazilian regions, both in terms of infrastructure and academic indicators, with better results in the Midwest and South, and that there are differentiated profiles of institutes as its origin, where the best quality indicators occur in those originated by integration of different educational institutions. Still, were identified two excellence groups, with emphasis on academic management, human resources and expansion / O Plano de Expans?o da Rede Federal de Educa??o Profissional prev? a constru??o de 860 novas unidades de ensino at? 2020, representando um intenso crescimento frente ?s 140 unidades existentes antes de sua divulga??o pelo Governo Federal, em 2005. Os Institutos Federais de Educa??o, Ci?ncia e Tecnologia v?m realizando a expans?o enquanto vivenciam as defici?ncias e os desafios das unidades ainda em desenvolvimento, criadas nas fases anteriores do Plano. A qualidade dos servi?os dessas institui??es tem sido avaliada pelos ?rg?os de controle, que requerem a apresenta??o de indicadores de desempenho nos seus Relat?rios de Gest?o anuais. No contexto da expans?o dos Institutos, em particular, deseja-se identificar poss?veis mudan?as os padr?es de qualidade. Assim, esta pesquisa foi motivada pelo seguinte problema: houve diferen?a no desempenho dos Institutos Federais de Educa??o, Ci?ncia e Tecnologia ap?s a inaugura??o das primeiras unidades da Fase II do Plano de Expans?o da Rede Federal de Educa??o Profissional e Tecnol?gica? Trata-se de uma pesquisa explorat?rio-descritiva ex-post-facto com abordagem quantitativa, que objetiva contribuir para o conhecimento do impacto da Expans?o da Rede Federal. Foram coletados os dados dos 12 indicadores apresentados nos Relat?rios de Gest?o dos 38 Institutos Federais nos anos 2007 a 2011, para avalia??o dos desempenhos atrav?s de t?cnicas de estat?stica descritiva. Os indicadores foram analisados de forma consolidada e aberta pelas seguintes perspectivas: por regi?o do pa?s, por crescimento de unidades de ensino e por origem das institui??es. Tamb?m foi realizada uma an?lise multivariada de clusters no intuito de identificar grupos de excel?ncia dentre os Institutos. Os resultados evidenciaram haver diferen?as no desenvolvimento do Plano de Expans?o entre as regi?es brasileiras, tanto no plano da infraestrutura quanto nos indicadores acad?micos, com melhores resultados no Centro-Oeste e Sul, e que h? perfis diferenciados de Institutos conforme sua origem, onde os melhores indicadores de qualidade ocorrem naqueles originados por integra??o de diferentes institui??es de ensino. Ainda, foram identificados dois grupos de excel?ncia, com ?nfase em gest?o acad?mica, de pessoas e de expans?o