This thesis seeks to advance interaction design practice by exploring the potential of interactive tangible prototypes to enhance university students' understanding of abstract programming structures, such as loops. It addresses prevalent challenges, including the difficulties students encounter when initially learning about loops, and scalability issues inherent in tangible teaching tools within this research area. Two distinct tangible learning methodologies are considered: unplugged programming and tangible computing. The primary contributions of this thesis lie in the creation of innovative tangible learning tools, the emphasis on the scalability of such tools, and the illumination of how physical prototypes can inspire digital software design.

This thesis investigated the use of novel combinations of multimodal metaphors in the presentation of learning information to evaluate the effect of these combinations on the usability of e-learning interfaces and on the users¿ learning performance. The empirical research described in this thesis comprised three experimental phases. In the first phase, an initial experiment was carried out with 30 users to explore and compare the usability and learning performance of facially animated expressive avatars with earcons and speech, and text with graphics metaphors. The second experimental phase involved an experiment conducted with 48 users to investigate their perception of avatar¿s facial expressions and body gestures when presented in both the absence and presence of interactive e-learning context. In addition, the experiment aimed at evaluating the role that an avatar could play as virtual lecturer in e-learning interfaces by comparing the usability and learning performance of three different modes of interaction: speaking facially expressive virtual lecturer, speaking facially expressive full-body animated virtual lecturer, and two speaking facially expressive virtual lecturers. In the third phase, a total of 24 users experimentally examined a novel approach for the use of earcons and auditory icons in e-learning interfaces to support an animated facially expressive avatar with body gestures during the presentation of the learning material. The obtained results demonstrated the usefulness of the tested metaphors to enhance e-learning usability and to enable users to attain better learning performance. These results provided a set of empirically derived innovative guidelines for the design and use of these metaphors to generate more usable e-learning interfaces. For example, when designing avatars as animated virtual lecturers in e-learning interfaces, specific facial expression and body gestures should be incorporated due to its positive influence in enhancing learners¿ attitude towards the learning process.

This thesis explores the use of multimodality to communicate retrieved results of Internet search engines. The investigation aimed to investigate suitable multimodal metaphors which would increase the level of usability of Internet search engine interfaces and enhance users` experience in the search activity. The study consisted of three experiments based on questionnaires and Internet search activities with a set of text-based and multimodal interfaces. These interfaces were implemented in two browsing platforms, named AVBRO and AVBRO II. In the first experiment, the efficiency of specific multimodal metaphors to communicate additional information of retrieved results was investigated. The experiment also sought to obtain users` views of these metaphors with a questionnaire. An experimental multimodal interface of the AVBRO platform, which communicated additional information with a combination of three 2D graphs and musical stimuli, was used as a basis for the experiment, together with the Google search engine. The results obtained led to the planning of a second experiment. The aim of this experiment was to obtain and compare the level of usability of four different experimental multimodal interfaces and one traditional text-based interface, all implemented in the AVBRO II platform. Effectiveness, efficiency and users` satisfaction were used as criteria to evaluate the usability of these interfaces. In the third and final experiment the usability analysis of a traditional text-based interface and the two most suitable experimental multimodal interfaces of the AVBRO II platform was further investigated. Learnability, errors rate, efficiency, memorability and users` satisfaction were used as criteria to evaluate the usability of these interfaces. The analysis of the results obtained from these experiments provided the basis for a set of design guidelines for the development of usable interfaces based on a multimodal approach.

Работа посвящена исследованию роли метафоры как средства манипулирования в политическом дискурсе, на примере дебатов между Хиллари Клинтон и Дональдом Трампом во время президентской кампании 2016 года. Автор анализирует использование метафор и их влияние на аудиторию, раскрывая механизмы манипуляции, которые лежат в основе такого использования. Работа имеет целью повысить информированность читателей и помочь им развить более осознанный подход к политическим сообщениям, основанный на анализе метафорического языка и его эффектах на аудиторию. Целью данного исследования является анализ роли метафоры в политическом дискурсе, а также раскрытие механизмов манипуляции, которые связаны с использованием метафор. В исследовании автор стремится более глубоко понять, как политические лидеры могут использовать метафоры для воздействия на аудиторию, формирования определенных образов и манипуляции мнениями людей. В результате исследования автор выявил ряд ключевых результатов. Во-первых, оба кандидата активно использовали метафоры в своих выступлениях и дебатах. Хиллари Клинтон использовала метафоры, связанные с образованием и экономикой, чтобы подчеркнуть свою экспертизу и стабильность. Дональд Трамп же в своих метафорах обращался к насилию, угрозам и созданию образа «американского героя». Во-вторых, метафоры, используемые обоими кандидатами, имели сильное эмоциональное воздействие на аудиторию. Они создавали определенные ассоциации, вызывали эмоциональные реакции и убеждали слушателей в правоте высказываемых идей и политических взглядов. В-третьих, анализ метафор позволил выявить механизмы манипуляции, используемые в политическом дискурсе. Оба кандидата использовали метафоры, чтобы создать определенные образы, усилить эмоциональные реакции и вызвать у избирателей чувство кризиса и необходимости перемен. Исследование подчеркивает важность осознания и критического анализа метафорического языка в политическом дискурсе. Понимание механизмов манипуляции при помощи метафор позволяет развить более информированное и осознанное отношение к политическим сообщениям и повысить критическую грамотность восприятия политической риторики. / This paper is devoted to the study of the role of metaphor as a means of manipulation in political discourse, using the example of debates between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. The author analyzes the use of metaphors and their impact on the audience, revealing the mechanisms of manipulation that underlie such use. The work aims to raise readers' awareness and help them develop a more informed approach to political messaging based on an analysis of metaphorical language and its effects on audiences. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of metaphor in political discourse, as well as to reveal the mechanisms of manipulation that are associated with the use of metaphors. In the study, the author seeks to better understand how political leaders can use metaphors to influence the audience, form certain images and manipulate people's opinions. As a result of the study, the author identified several key findings. First, both candidates actively used metaphors in their speeches and debates. Hillary Clinton used metaphors related to education and the economy to emphasize her expertise and stability. Donald Trump, on the other hand, in his metaphors turned to violence, threats, and creating an image of an "American hero. Second, the metaphors used by both candidates had a strong emotional impact on the audience. They created certain associations, evoked emotional reactions, and persuaded listeners of the validity of the ideas and political views expressed. Third, the analysis of metaphors revealed the manipulation mechanisms used in political discourse. Both candidates used metaphors to create certain images, enhance emotional reactions, and evoke a sense of crisis and the need for change among voters. The study highlights the importance of awareness and critical analysis of metaphorical language in political discourse. Understanding the mechanisms of manipulation through metaphors allows us to develop a more informed and conscious attitude toward political messages and to increase the critical literacy of the perception of political rhetoric.

Forskningsfrågor - Vilka ledarskapsbeteenden uppvisar chefer under medarbetarsamtal? - På vilket sätt kan chefernas beteende i medarbetarsamtalet förklaras med hjälp av aktuella ledarskapsteorier? Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka ledarskapsbeteenden som chefer manifesterar under medarbetarsamtalet, för att bidra med en fördjupad kunskap kring detta fenomen. Studien använder sig av en teoretisk referensram som grundar sig i etablerade ledarskapsteorier som används för att analysera chefers beteende inom kontexten av medarbetarsamtal, för att undersöka om de etablerade teorier kan förklara dessa beteenden i denna specifika kontext. Metod Studien klassas som en explorativ studie med semistrukturerade intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Tematisk analys med metaforer används som analyseringsmetod. Slutsats I studien har flera beteenden upptäckts som har kategoriserats i tre distinkta metaforer. Dessa metaforer är Guiden, Medlaren och Vårdaren. De tre metaforerna tolkas innebära olika tillvägagångssätt som ledare utnyttjar för att öka ägarskap och eget ansvar av prestation hos sina medarbetare. Medarbetarsamtalet i sig blir en sorts avfyrningsramp varifrån ledare kan sätta tonen för prestationer och medarbetarnas ägarskap av dem i framtiden. Detta kan vara ett enkelt sätt att minska behovet av kontroll och styrning av medarbetare i övrigt. / Research questions - What leadership behaviours do managers' exhibit during performance appraisals? - In what way can the managers' behavior in the employee interview be explained with the help of current leadership theories? Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate what leadership behaviors managers manifest during performance appraisals, to contribute with an in-depth knowledge of this phenomenon. This study uses a theoretical frame of reference based on established leadership theories used to analyze managers’ behavior within the context of performance appraisals, to investigate whether the established theories can explain these behaviors in this specific context. Method This is an exploratory study with semi-structured interviews as data collection method. Thematic analysis with metaphors is used as an analysis method. Conclusion In the study, several behaviors have been discovered that have been categorized into three distinct metaphors. These metaphors are the Guide, the Mediator and the Caretaker. The three metaphors are interpreted to include different approaches that leaders use to increase ownership and personal responsibility of performance in their employees. The employee conversation itself becomes a kind of launching pad from which leaders can set the tone for performance, and employee ownership of it, in the future. This can be a simple way to reduce the need for control and management of employees in general.

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This research addresses a problem that centers on the persistent disparities in computer use and access among racial minorities, particularly African-Americans and Latinos, and persons of low socio-economic status (SES) here in the USA. "Access" to computer technology maintains a dual meaning. Access may refer to having a computer and software available for use or it may refer to having a computer interface that effectively facilitates user learning. This study conceptualizes "access" as the latter — having an interface that facilitates user learning. One intervention for this problem of access, from a Human Factors perspective, is in recognizing and accounting for culture's influence on one's cognition. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were integrated to effectively determine a process for engaging typically marginalized groups, interface metaphor preferences of African-Americans, and user performance with varying types of interface metaphors. The qualitative aspects of this study provided a basis for understanding how entry was obtained into the participants' community and for obtaining richer descriptions of user successes and challenges with the various interface designs. The researcher developed a culturally valid interface design methodology, i.e., Acculturalization Interface Design (A.I.D.) methodology, which was used to identify meaningful computer interface metaphors for low SES African-Americans. Through the A.I.D. methodology and an associated field study, a group of African-American novice computer users determined that the home, the bedroom and comfort were meaningful computer interface metaphors to integrate into a letter writing task. A separate group of African-Americans performed benchmark tasks on an interface design that utilized the home, bedroom and comfort metaphors or Microsoft Word 2003. The African-American group performed significantly better on the novel interface than on Microsoft Word 2003 for several benchmark tasks. Qualitative analyses showed that low acculturation African-Americans were particularly challenged with those same tasks. Regression analyses used to determine the relationship between psychosocial characteristics and user performance were inconclusive. Subject matter experts (SME), representing low SES Latinos, discussed potential learnability issues for both interface designs. Furthermore, results from the African-American group and the SMEs highlight the critical importance of using terminology (i.e., verbal metaphors) and pictorial metaphors that are culturally and socially valid. / Ph. D.

no / The results from previous experiments using structured musical stimuli to communicate coordinate locations within a graphical grid, navigation of an auditory cursor and simple shapes are used as a basis for further exploratory research to communicate diagrams. An experimental framework program (called AudioGraph) provided a platform for investigating musical information processing for blind users. Under this platform, simple arrangements of shapes (forming diagrams) were communicated to users using structured musical stimuli. Meaningfully arranged graphical shapes (at least for the visual sense) were communicated in the absence, and in the presence of a particular perceptual context or different perceptual contexts. The results indicated that perceptual context played an important role in the interpretation of the structured musical stimuli that communicated simple diagrams. The paper concludes with a discussion on the implications of the results, the role of context and the use of structured musical stimuli to communicate graphical information to visually impaired users.

The purpose of this study is to explore how “the Devil” is used metaphorically in popular music, both contextually and within the linguistic framework of conceptual metaphor theory. The corpus examined consists of 15 lyrics spread over the genre’s blues, country/bluegrass, heavy metal and female alternative. The study was conducted applying PIMS grounded in conceptual metaphor analysis. The analysis shows the Devil being used both in metaphors and metonymies in both target domains and source domains linked to concepts like force, deception and control, and emotions such as love, fear, anger and sadness. The study further showed that context made multiple interpretations of the scenes/phrases possible.