The Nursing Coordinators (NCs) at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) fields phone calls from patients who have been discharged and are undergoing home care procedures at a daily basis. The project described in this thesis aims to provide tools for the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that the NCs can use during the phone calls. The Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) and Ecological Interface Design (EID) approach are used to identify the information requirements to design the system. Major challenges of the telephone consultation process that are additionally identified by literature review and interviewing the NCs included visibility of patients, individual differences, and lack of standardized procedures. A combination of decision trees and visualization techniques is proposed to aid the process. Implementation of decision trees would help unload mental workload especially accesses to "knowledge in the head" as well as facilitate expert knowledge transfer to less experienced nurses. Visualization tools display integration of multiple-cues from patients in an abstract nature and can be accessed by users at any point of decision process. <br /><br /> Preliminary experiment with static images showed that visualization tools helped the decision makers more when the judgement tasks were more complex. The effects of different types of decision support on the cardiac nurses in simulated telephone consultation processes were examined. The system improved the performance of the decision makers and induced different types of strategic behaviours: a standardized checklist, OLDCAR, induced more through assessment, the decision algorithms induced efficient and more detailed recommendation, and the semantic network symptom map induced information gathering more relevant to diagnosis. <br /><br /> The research also explored methodologies to examine multi-layered decision process, where many decision makers with varying expertise are involved in modeling the strategic behaviours. This type of process can be applicable when the primary decision makers do not monitor the work domain, but can be alerted when something goes wrong.

This project includes an implementation of an intelligent voice recognition assistant for Android where functionality on current existing applications on other platforms is compared. Until this day, there has not been any good alternative for Android, so this project aims to implement a voice assistant for the Android platform while describing the difficulties and challenges that lies in this task.

Att ha ett sår är en belastning och påverkar människors vardag, oavsett om såret är akut efter ett olycksfall eller efter en operation, alternativt svårläkande som vid bensår, diabetesfotsår, trycksår eller maligna tumörsår. Syftet med studien var att undersöka kunskaper hos sjuksköterskor och undersköterskor om sårbehandling inom kirurgisk verksamhet. Metoden utgjordes av en enkätundersökning hos sjuksköterskor (n=56) och undersköterskor (n=38). Resultatet visar att sjuksköterskorna kände sig mer osäkra i sitt val av behandling av svårläkande sår jämfört med undersköterskorna. Kunskaperna om sårbehandling visar att skattade kunskaper inte motsvarar svaren på kunskapsfrågorna. Nitton av 56 sjuksköterskor och 15 av 37 undersköterskor hade genomgått någon form av sårutbildning. Undersköterskorna skattar sina kunskaper om sårbehandling högre än sjuksköterskorna och känner sig mer sällan osäkra i sitt val av behandling av svårläkande sår, jämfört med sjuksköterskorna. Det är också undersköterskorna som oftast utför såromläggningar på avdelningarna. Studien visar att det finns brister i kunskaperna om sårbehandling, hos både sjuksköterskor och undersköterskor och att mer utbildning behövs. / To have a wound is a burden and affect people's everyday lives, whether the wound is acute after an accident or after surgery or difficult healing of the ulcers, diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers or a malignant wound. The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses' and nursing assistant’s knowledge of wound healing in surgical wards. The method was done by using a questionnaire survey among registered Nurses (RNs) (n = 56) and nursing assistants (NAs) (n = 38). The results show that the RNs felt more insecure in their choice of treatment of severe ulcer healing compared with the NAs. Knowledge of wound healing shows that the estimated knowledge does not correspond to the answers to knowledge questions. Of the RNs answered 51 of 56 and of the NAs answered 32 of 37 that they needed more education in wound care/treatment. NAs estimated their knowledge of wound care higher than the RNs and felt less insecure in their choice of treatment of wound healing, compared with the RNs. There are also the NAs who usually perform a change of dressing on the wards. The study shows that there are gaps in knowledge in wound care/treatment, with both RNs and NAs and that more education is needed.

The Nursing Coordinators (NCs) at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) fields phone calls from patients who have been discharged and are undergoing home care procedures at a daily basis. The project described in this thesis aims to provide tools for the Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) that the NCs can use during the phone calls. The Cognitive Work Analysis (CWA) and Ecological Interface Design (EID) approach are used to identify the information requirements to design the system. Major challenges of the telephone consultation process that are additionally identified by literature review and interviewing the NCs included visibility of patients, individual differences, and lack of standardized procedures. A combination of decision trees and visualization techniques is proposed to aid the process. Implementation of decision trees would help unload mental workload especially accesses to "knowledge in the head" as well as facilitate expert knowledge transfer to less experienced nurses. Visualization tools display integration of multiple-cues from patients in an abstract nature and can be accessed by users at any point of decision process. <br /><br /> Preliminary experiment with static images showed that visualization tools helped the decision makers more when the judgement tasks were more complex. The effects of different types of decision support on the cardiac nurses in simulated telephone consultation processes were examined. The system improved the performance of the decision makers and induced different types of strategic behaviours: a standardized checklist, OLDCAR, induced more through assessment, the decision algorithms induced efficient and more detailed recommendation, and the semantic network symptom map induced information gathering more relevant to diagnosis. <br /><br /> The research also explored methodologies to examine multi-layered decision process, where many decision makers with varying expertise are involved in modeling the strategic behaviours. This type of process can be applicable when the primary decision makers do not monitor the work domain, but can be alerted when something goes wrong.

Denna studies Syfte var att beskriva hur omvårdnadspersonal och sjuksköterskor på två särskilda boenden i en kommun i Mellansverige uppfattar sin egen och varandras yrkesroll, däribland uppfattningen av sjuksköterskors ledarskap. Detta syfte har speglats utifrån designen kvalitativ ansats där resultatet är övergripande beskrivande och Metoden för studien var halvstrukturerade, ämnesfokuserade intervjuer som analyserats genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultatet som framkommer i studien var att rollerna är svåra att definiera, de generella beskrivningarna är att sjuksköterskans ansvar ligger i det sjuka och förebygga ohälsa samt att omvårdnadspersonalens huvudansvar vilar i den basala omvårdnaden men båda yrkesgrupperna anser sig dela det preventiva arbetet, omvårdnadsteknik är omvårdnadspersonalens arbetsuppgift - men anses valbar och förväntningarna på respektive yrkesgrupp skiljer sig. Varken sjuksköterska eller omvårdnadspersonal anser att sjuksköterskan har några specifika uppgifter som ledare utöver att de ska fungera som handledare och stå för kompetenshöjning på avdelningen, däremot framkommer åsikter om att det finns en naturlig ledarroll inom den medicinska vården vid specifika situationer. Slutsatser i studien var att sjuksköterskorna uppvisar bredare kunskap om arbetsuppgifterna inom yrkesrollerna än vad omvårdnadspersonalen gör, förväntningarna på varandras ansvarsområden skiljer sig och båda grupperna verkar ovetandes om ansvaret sjuksköterskor har i ledanderollen. / The aim of this study was to describe how health care assistants and registered nurses perceive their own and each other’s work roles and also how they perceived registered nurses role as a leader. A qualitative descriptive design was used. The used method was semi-structured, topic-focused interviews that were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The result of the study shows that it was difficult to define respectively work role, the general description is that the registered nurses responsibility lies within the area of diseases and prevention of illness. The health care assistant’s main responsibility is in the area of basic nursing care and also technical care, but both occupational groups considered preventive work as a shared responsibility and the expectations on respectively occupational group differ. Neither the registered nurses nor the healthcare assistants considered registered nurses as a leader, except in the role of a mentor and the responsibility to increase competence within the healthcare assistants group when needed. But it was found that registered nurse have a natural role as a leader regarding the medical care in specific situations. The conclusions of the study was that the registered nurses has a broader knowledge of the work tasks within the work role of the two professions compared to the health care assistants, the expectations of each other’s responsibilities differ and both groups seem unaware of the leading role that is incorporated in registered nurses responsibility.

Although many researchers have pointed out that educational robots can motivate student learning, learning motivation inevitably declines over time. The sustainability of learning motivation is closely related to instructional strategies. In other words, appropriate instructional strategies are still essential to sustain a learner's learning motivation in robot-assisted instructions. The ARCS model provides systematic guidelines for enhancing and sustaining learning motivation; however, it provides very limited instructional practices in the model. Recent development in educational robot grows rapidly. A humanoid robot, which has a tangible and attractive body and limbs, is able to perform movements and gestures and to interact with its users. This study aims to develop instructional strategies and activities based on the ARCS model and the specific features of the robot teaching assistant (RTA) to enhance and sustain motivation in learning English reading skills. A quasi experiment and a survey were conducted to evaluate the effects of the designed strategies and activities. The results showed that the design of the RTA-based activities following the ARCS model for learning English reading skills was positively and significantly contributed to students¡¦ learning motivation, learning performance and continuance intention.

In 2008, Kaohsiung City launched an English co-teaching program, which annually recruits 12 young American college graduates to promote English language instruction and cultural exchange. These young Americans serve as English teaching assistants (ETAs), whose main duty is to co-teach with local English teachers (LETs). This study aims to understand the students¡¦ learning English attitude and motivation in elementary schools participating in the LET and ETA co-teaching program, investigate the interaction effects of grade, cram school experience and LET and ETA co-teaching on students¡¦ English learning attitude and motivation and to offer a few concrete suggestions for the improvement of co-teaching program in public elementary schools based upon the results. The research adopted questionnaire survey method. The questionnaire was designed and distributed to 811 English teachers from 12 elementary schools in Kaohsiung City as the subjects. As a result, 618 were valid responded corresponding with a 76% of return rate. Descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA and Scheffe method were conducted for data analysis and finally come to the following results: 1. The interaction effects of co-teaching and grade on elementary school students¡¦ attitude toward LET teaching, self-English learning and overall English learning attitude are significant. 2. The interaction effects of co-teaching and cram school experience on elementary school students¡¦ self-evaluation of learning outcomes and overall English learning attitude are significant. 3. The interaction effects of co-teaching and grade on elementary school students¡¦ instrumental motivation, negative motivation and overall English learning motivation are significant. 4. The interaction effects of co-teaching and cram school experience on elementary school students¡¦ instrumental motivation are significant. Based on the results of the study, some suggestions are proposed to the educational authorities, schools, as well as future studies.

It is more and more popular to transmit and receive information with Wireless LAN(WLAN) as the time of science and technology has been approaching. Every type of business gradually has priority on WLAN for marketing. Especially business of agents of real estate, they use WLAN as tool for marketing to improve the service with information and human nature and to break through the shape of traditional human operation. They record characters and functions of surrounding environment of the houses which are entrusted by clients in their system to provide immediate and local information with house-buyer. This becomes personalizing and valuable selling information. It takes both quantitative and qualitative methods as research methods in the study, and agents of real estate using and not using WLAN in Kaohsiung City are picked as research objects. The study takes depth interviews to realize conditions for wireless network marketing using, motivation for wireless network marketing, and using mode for wireless network marketing, and it also analyzes the differences among wireless network marketing, traditional marketing, and internet marketing. Meanwhile the study use questionnaires survey to figure out the reason why some agents of real estate do not use WLAN for marketing. There are four findings in the study as follows: (1) Agents of real estate using WLAN for marketing are mainly direct branches and over 15 years old. (2) The traditional way for marketing used by agents of real estate using or not using WLAN for marketing is newspaper. (3) Agents of real estate using WLAN for marketing know the requirements of clients and can improve the quality of service better then agents of real estate not using WLAN for marketing. (4) The rate of agents of real estate not using WLAN for marketing at present would like to use WLAN for marketing in the future become more. The conclusion of the study indicates the marketing mode of using new science technology can inquire new information anytime and anywhere. The mode of marketing with WLAN provides business of agents of real estate with the immediate and local information, and this is the point that mass media can not achieve. There are difficulties for business of agents of real estate in Kaohsiung City to use high science technology as a kind of marketing mode. Kaohsiung City should try to upgrade M capacity step by step and take both traditional marketing and WLAN marketing to enhance the function of WLAN for marketing in business of agents of real estate.

Dans le domaine des systèmes informatisés où la fiabilité est la première priorité, les méthodes formelles ont prouvé leur efficacité pour la conception de logiciels sûrs. La dépendance à de tels systèmes augmente, et les contraintes rencontrées se font plus diverses et précises, en particulier les contraintes temporelles. Certaines méthodes formelles, notamment la méthode B, rendent la conception malaisée sous de telles contraintes, puisqu'elles n'ont pas été prévues pour cela à l'origine.<br /><br />Nous nous proposons donc d'étendre la méthode B pour lui permettre de spécifier et valider des systèmes à contraintes temporelles complexes. Nous utilisons pour ce faire des calculs de durées pour exprimer la sémantique du langage B et en déduire une extension conservative qui permet de l'utiliser à la fois dans son cadre d'origine et dans le cadre de systèmes à contraintes temporelles.<br /><br />Nous nous penchons également sur le problème de l'utilisation d'un outil de preuve générique pour valider des formules de calcul des durées. La généricité de ce type d'outil répond à la multiplication des méthodes formelles, mais pose le problème de l'intégration des fondations mathématiques de ces méthodes à un outil générique. Nous proposons donc d'étudier la mise en oeuvre en plongement léger du calcul des durées dans l'assistant de preuve Coq. Nous en déduisons un retour sur expérience de la définition d'une logique modale particulière dans un outil à vocation générique.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2000. / Bibliography: p. 37-40.