published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

<p>The development of information technology, IT, has resultedin big changes in the last decade. Personal computers, mobilephones andaccess to the Internet have been widely spread, andthe development of software and systems has contributed to newways of working and new possibilities for communication. Inmany industries, the use of IT has lead to increasedeffectiveness and productivity. In the construction industrymuch effort has been made to improve processes with the help ofIT, but the industry has not achieved increased productivity tothe same extent as others. The aim of this research is tocreate a better understanding of how different parts of theSwedish construction industry make use of IT and how theyjustify their investments in IT. The work has been carried outusing surveys. Postal questionnaires as well as interviews havebeen used. The research project started with the design anddevelopment of a questionnaire, which has been used twice inSweden. The same questionnaire has also been used in Denmarkand Finland on the same occasions. The results of the postalsurveys have, to some extent, been compared with similarsurveys regarding other industries in Sweden, as well as theconstruction industries in other countries. The findings fromthe postal surveys have also been used as a basis for aninterview study with twelve companies in the Swedishconstruction industry, with the purpose of explaining theexisting level of IT use. The conclusions that were reachedwere that the access to IT is widespread in the industry, andthat the use is concentrated in the areas of: administration,communication and design. There is a lack of use and investmentin advanced systems such as product models, virtual reality andelectronic trading. The contractors use IT to the least extentin the industry. The reasons for adopting and using IT, or notdoing so, have been divided into five areas ¡V economical,organisational, knowledge based, practical and cultural ¡Vwhich are discussed in the thesis. The practical benefits forthe individuals in each profession seem to be the mostimportant reason for adopting IT. Economical factors are thegreatest obstacles to using IT, and few companies are preparedto invest venture capital in advanced systems even if thepotential benefit is great.</p><p><b>KEYWORDS:</b>Construction industry, information technology,surveys, CAD, communication</p>

<p>Optimized quality of IT services are those which need pre-analysis of users’ requirements, service provider’s capabilities as well as service specification and standardization. For any organization, maintaining of quality of IT service has become one of the key challenges which holds a significance importance to users’ satisfaction. Thus, this research tries to explore and identify the key factors of service quality dimensions and its affect on Information Technology Service so that organization can understand and follow the possible way to maintain quality of IT service to satisfy its end users. To achieve ultimate target of this research, the relevant three literatures have been reviewed and then the concept structure has been proposed for the analysis. From the respective three literatures, service quality dimensions have been selected to be tested for quality practices in Information Technology Service Department in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC).A qualitative research approach has been used to get a better understanding of the issue. The empirical data has been gathered through the study of internal documents, five days of participant observations and in-depth structured interviews with three quality assurance staffs and one IT service user from UNODC. Data presentation and analysis have been done in accordance with the literatures framework and research questions. Finally, conclusion has been drawn by answering research questions based on the issues identified. The findings of the exploratory case study suggest that considering of dependability, prior requirement analysis, and functionality of IT product and services could be taken up to bring realistic, clear, and goal-oriented quality approach in the Information Technology Service which address users’ expectations. The quality dimensions and the gap identified in the research study provide an avenue to address the quality related difficulties that IT service organizations encounter while developing of IT services. This study is expected to create a significant contribution to the areas within a domain of service quality in Information Technology as well as in Information System and Information Management. <strong></strong></p><p> </p>

<p>The goal of this thesis is to improve Usability and functionality of a tool for artifact management, which applies taxonomic paths for categorizing artifacts. The main issues of using the taxonomic paths are used for categorization and should improve the precision when retrieving documents. The results show the improvements in functionality and usability of the artifact manager. This thesis explains about Usability, re-engineering, and necessary infrastructure to improve the performance of the artifact manager tool.At the end of the thesis necessary modifications has been done to improve usability and functionality of artifact manager</p>

No description available.

Medication errors are the second most frequent cause of injury among all types of medical errors (Leape, et al., 1991). Of concern to nursing practice, medication administration errors (MAE) are second only to ordering errors (Bates, Cullen, et al., 1995). The introduction of information technology designed to promote safe medication practice, such as the Bar Code Medication Administration (BCMA) system, offers new opportunities for reducing MAE. BCMA was developed to improve patient safety, improve documentation of medication administration, decrease medication errors, and capture medication accountability data. The overall goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of BCMA on medication administration errors: wrong patient, medication, dose, time, and route. Rogers' (1995) theory, organizational diffusion of innovations, provided the study's framework.A descriptive comparative design examined incidence of MAEs before (Time 1) and after implementation (Time 2) of BCMA on eight units in one medical center. MAE incidence was calculated using MAE and patient-days data. Nurse adherence to BCMA usage procedure was assessed with a questionnaire created for the study.Findings indicated that total MAEs increased from Time 1 to Time 2, however, wrong patient and wrong dose errors decreased. There was a statistically significant (p &lt; 0.05) increase in wrong route errors at Time 2. Comparing these findings with previous research demonstrated a diversity of methods, limiting conclusions. Nurse adherence findings indicated high overall adherence. However, completion of certain steps was hindered by software, equipment, or the work environment.Study findings were significant to nursing, informatics and patient safety research. Findings demonstrated the early state of BCMA research, added to knowledge about MAE detection methods, and brought a nursing perspective to information technology research on a process primarily within nursing purview. Implications for future research include improvement in MAE definitions and detection methods to support reliable data collection for research and quality improvement analysis. Also, sociotechnical theory recognizes health care as an interwoven, heterogeneous environment with complex roles and work practices, and may provide a more appropriate framework for evaluation of medication safety technology innovations than the linear model used in this study.

No description available.

<p> Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) is an established field of academic inquiry with distinct applications for second language teaching and learning. Many CALL professionals direct language labs or language resource centers (LRCs) in which CALL software applications and generic software applications support language learning programs and individual study. The central research question of this study is: What aspects define the lived experience of CALL professionals as they select CALL solutions for language resource centers or language labs? A subset of related research questions focuses on how CALL professionals consider pedagogical aspects of CALL solutions in making selections, the other aspects that CALL professionals consider in adoption or non-adoption decisions, and how CALL professionals experience satisfaction with the solutions available to them, taking into account these pedagogical and other aspects. This study explores the selection of applications from a phenomenological approach based upon Moustakas's modification of Van Kaam's method. Twenty-five language lab and language resource center directors, members of the International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT), were interviewed to ascertain aspects of their lived experience in the selection and use of CALL applications in their educational institutions. Areas of inquiry included the alignment of instructional technologies used for language learning to pedagogical and andragogical approaches; the importance of other factors such as cost, technical support, and provider reputation; and the extent of user satisfaction with each of these elements. The majority of the interviewees indicated that pedagogical alignment between CALL solutions and the pedagogical orientation of the programs they support is a critical factor in their decision-making process. Cost is a factor in the majority of cases, while provider reputation and technical support vary as criteria for adoption. Interviewees also identified varying levels of satisfaction with the CALL solutions available with regard to these factors. They proposed a number of additional user requirements and adoption criteria to be integrated into the development lifecycle of CALL software solutions. </p><p> <i>Keywords:</i> CALL, computer-assisted language learning, user requirements, user satisfaction, pedagogy, andragogy, software selection, instructional technology, language lab, language resource center, IALLT, language learning technology, information technology.</p>