Two different focus groups in primary schools in Uganda participated in this study to investigate critical aspects of usability comparing two different educational mobile applications. The first group was already familiar with both applications, while the second group had no previous experiences of the applications. Furthermore, interviews were performed with a head teacher as well as two CEOs and founders of two start ups developing educational mobile applications for children, in order to investigate challenges with implementation of mobile learning in schools in Uganda. The results showed that one of the applications was not fully compatible with the devices used by the target group and that swiping was perceived less natural than clicking. Regarding organizational factors of implementation in schools, financial limitations and insufficient computer literacy among employees were revealed as critical obstacles. Moreover, improvements of the method used during the user tests with children in foreign contexts are discussed. / I denna studie deltog två fokusgrupper med barn från två olika grundskolor i Uganda för att undersöka kritiska aspekter gällande användarvänlighet genom att jämföra två mobilapplikationer som används i utbildningssammanhang. Den första gruppen var redan bekant med båda applikationerna, medan den andra gruppen var obekant med applikationerna. Vidare undersöktes utmaningar med implementation av mobile learning i grundskolor i Uganda genom intervjuer med en rektor från en ugandiansk grundskola samt två VDs tillika grundare från två ugandianska edTech-start-ups. Resultaten visade att en av applikationerna inte var fullständigt kompatibel med de enheter som användes av målgruppen i Uganda samt att "swipea" uppfattades mindre naturligt än att klicka. Gällande organisatoriska faktorer av implementering i skolorna visades finansiella begränsningar och anställdas otillräckliga datakunskap vara kritiska hinder. Utöver resultaten som ämnar svara på de definierade frågeställningarna diskuteras förbättringar av metoden som användes för användartesterna, i syfte att ge riktlinjer till framtida projekt i liknande sammanhang.

Diagramme phylogenetischer Verwandtschaft (DpV) modellieren Hypothesen zu evolutiven Verwandtschaftsverhältnissen von Arten oder Populationen. Das Interpretieren und Vergleichen von DpV wird als Tree-Reading bezeichnet und ist essentiell für das Evolutionsverständnis. DpV werden in der Wissenschaft als Modelle verwendet, um Wissen zu kommunizieren (medialer Modelleinsatz) und neue Erkenntnisse zu generieren (methodischer Modelleinsatz). Im Biologieunterricht werden Modelle oft nur medial eingesetzt. Während Wissenschaftler:innen mit einschlägigem Forschungsschwerpunkt die wissenschaftlich erforderlichen Ausprägungen von Tree-Reading vorweisen, weichen Lernende mit oberflächlichen oder wissenschaftlich inadäquaten Aussagen zu DpV häufig davon ab. Die vorliegende Studie untersucht anhand verbaler und visueller Daten, inwiefern der Erfahrungsgrad mit DpV und der Modelleinsatz bei Tree-Reading-Prozessen interagieren. Wissenschaftler:innen mit hohem Erfahrungsgrad mit DpV (n = 10) und Studierende des Master of Education Biologie mit niedrigem Erfahrungsgrad (n = 15) bearbeiteten Aufgaben, in denen DpV im medialen oder im methodischen Modelleinsatz eingebettet waren. Die Studierenden zeigten heterogene Tree-Reading-Prozesse, die sich teilweise nicht von denen von Wissenschaftler:innen unterschieden. Dies lässt sich mit dem Revised STREAM (Schramm, Jose, & Schmiemann, 2021) erklären, das Tree-Reading in fünf Dimensionen einteilt, die in unterschiedlicher Ausprägung beherrscht werden können. Entsprechend sollte Tree-Reading bei Lernenden individuell gefördert werden, um das Evolutionsverständnis und das Verständnis gesellschaftsrelevanter Themen zu stärken. Die vorliegende Studie bietet erstmals umfassende Einblicke in Tree-Reading-Prozesse und ist damit Ausgangspunkt für tiefergehende Untersuchungen der einzelnen Aspekte. / Phylogenetic trees (PT) model hypotheses about evolutionary relationships among species or populations. Interpreting and comparing PT is defined as tree reading and is essential for understanding evolution. PT as models are used in science to communicate knowledge (medial perspective) and to generate new insights (methodical perspective). In biology classrooms, model use is often limited to the medial perspective. While experienced scientists exhibit scientifically adequate tree reading, learners often show superficial and scientifically inadequate tree reading. Based on verbal and visual data the present study investigates how the degree of experience with PT and the perspective from which models are used interact in tree reading processes. Scientists with a high degree of experience with PT (n = 10) and pre-service biology teachers with low degree of experience (n = 15) solved tasks with medially and methodically embedded PT, respectively. Pre-service teachers showed heterogeneous tree reading processes, which sometimes did not differ from scientists’ processes. This is in line with the Revised STREAM (Schramm, Jose, & Schmiemann, 2021) dividing tree reading into five dimensions that learners can master on differing levels. Corresponding to these findings, learners’ tree reading skills should be fostered individually to strengthen understanding of evolution and socially relevant issues. The present study provides unique and comprehensive insights into tree reading processes and thus represents a starting point for more profound investigation of the found aspects.

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<p>Chronic low back pain is the second most prevalent chronic condition in Canadian primary care settings. The treatment and diagnosis of chronic pain is challenging for primary care clinicians. Their main challenges are lack of knowledge and their approach toward assessing and treating pain. Evidence based guidelines have been developed for neuropathic pain and low back pain.</p> <p>CDSSs for chronic diseases are becoming popular in primary care settings as a mean to implement CPGs. A CDSS prototype for diagnosis and treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain in primary care was developed at McMaster University. It is evident that poor usability can hinder the uptake of health information technologies.</p> <p>The objective of this study was to test the usability of Pain Assistant using think aloud protocols with SUS scores in 2 iterations. In this study 13 primary care providers including family physicians, nurse practitioners and residents used Pain Assistant to complete 3 different patient case scenarios. Participants were asked to comment on both barriers and facilitators of usability of Pain Assistant. Additionally time to complete patient case scenarios was calculated for each participant. A comparison questionnaire gathered user preference between introducing CPGs in paper format and computerized decision support system.</p> <p>This study showed that iterative usability testing of the Pain Assistant with participation of real-end users has the potential to uncover usability issues of the Pain Assistant. Problems of user interface were the main usability barrier in first testing iteration following by problems of content. Changes were made to system design for second round based on the issues came up in the first iteration. However, because of time constrains not all the changes were implemented for second round of testing. Most of the refinements were to resolve user interface issues. In the second iteration, the problems with the content of Pain Assistant were the major barrier. The changes to the system design were successful in resolving user interface problems since the changed issues did not come up again in second round. Pain Assistant had an above the average usability score however no significant changes seen in SUS score. The time needed to complete tasks remained identical in both iterations. In addition, participants preferred to have CPGs in electronic formats than paper. Further study after implementing all the system changes needed to determine the effectiveness of system refinements.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

[EN] Software development projects are diverse in nature. For this reason, software companies are often forced to define their methods in-house. In order to define methods efficiently and effectively, software companies require systematic solutions that are built upon sound methodical foundations. Providing these solutions is the main goal of the Method Engineering discipline. Method Engineering is the discipline to design, construct, and adapt methods, techniques, and tools for the development of information systems. Over the last two decades, a lot of research work has been performed in this area. However, despite its potential benefits, Method Engineering is not widely used in industrial settings. Some of the causes of this reality are the high theoretical complexity of Method Engineering and the lack of adequate software support. In this thesis, we aim to mitigate some of the problems that affect Method Engineering by providing a novel methodological approach that is built upon Model-Driven Engineering (MDE) foundations. The use of MDE enables a rise in abstraction, automation, and reuse that allows us to alleviate the complexity of our Method Engineering approach. Furthermore, by leveraging MDE techniques (such as metamodeling, model transformations, and models at runtime), our approach supports three phases of the Method Engineering lifecycle: design, implementation, and execution. This is unlike traditional Method Engineering approaches, which, in general, only support one of these phases. In order to provide software support for our proposal, we developed a Computer-Aided Method Engineering (CAME) environment that is called MOSKitt4ME. To ensure that MOSKitt4ME offered the necessary functionality, we identified a set of functional requirements prior to developing the tool. Then, after these requirements were identified, we defined the architecture of our CAME environment, and, finally, we implemented the architecture in the context of Eclipse. The thesis work was evaluated by means of a study that involved the participation of end users. In this study, MOSKitt4ME was assessed by means of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Think Aloud method. While the TAM allowed us to measure usefulness and ease of use in a subjective manner, the Think Aloud method allowed us to analyze these measures objectively. Overall, the results were favorable. MOSKitt4ME was highly rated in perceived usefulness and ease of use; we also obtained positive results with respect to the users' actual performance and the difficulty experienced. / [ES] Los proyectos de desarrollo de software son diversos por naturaleza. Por este motivo, las compañías de software se ven forzadas frecuentemente a definir sus métodos de manera interna. Para poder definir métodos de forma efectiva y eficiente, las compañías necesitan soluciones sistemáticas que estén definidas sobre unos fundamentos metodológicos sólidos. Proporcionar estas soluciones es el principal objetivo de la Ingeniería de Métodos. La Ingeniería de Métodos es la disciplina que aborda el diseño, la construcción y la adaptación de métodos, técnicas y herramientas para el desarrollo de sistemas de información. Durante las dos últimas décadas, se ha llevado a cabo mucho trabajo de investigación en esta área. Sin embargo, pese a sus potenciales beneficios, la Ingeniería de Métodos no se aplica ampliamente en contextos industriales. Algunas de las principales causas de esta situación son la alta complejidad teórica de la Ingeniería de Métodos y la falta de un apropiado soporte software. En esta tesis, pretendemos mitigar algunos de los problemas que afectan a la Ingeniería de Métodos proporcionando una propuesta metodológica innovadora que está basada en la Ingeniería Dirigida por Modelos (MDE). El uso de MDE permite elevar el nivel de abstracción, automatización y reuso, lo que posibilita una reducción de la complejidad de nuestra propuesta. Además, aprovechando técnicas de MDE (como por ejemplo el metamodelado, las transformaciones de modelos y los modelos en tiempo de ejecución), nuestra aproximación da soporte a tres fases del ciclo de vida de la Ingeniería de Métodos: diseño, implementación y ejecución. Esto es a diferencia de las propuestas existentes, las cuales, por lo general, sólo dan soporte a una de estas fases. Con el objetivo de proporcionar soporte software para nuestra propuesta, implementamos una herramienta CAME (Computer-Aided Method Engineering) llamada MOSKitt4ME. Para garantizar que MOSKitt4ME proporcionaba la funcionalidad necesaria, definimos un conjunto de requisitos funcionales como paso previo al desarrollo de la herramienta. Tras la definción de estos requisitos, definimos la arquitectura de la herramienta CAME y, finalmente, implementamos la arquitectura en el contexto de Eclipse. El trabajo desarrollado en esta tesis se evaluó por medio de un estudio donde participaron usuarios finales. En este estudio, MOSKitt4ME se evaluó por medio del Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) y del método Think Aloud. Mientras que el TAM permitió medir utilidad y facilidad de uso de forma subjetiva, el método Think Aloud permitió analizar estas medidas objetivamente. En general, los resultados obtenidos fueron favorables. MOSKitt4ME fue valorado de forma positiva en cuanto a utilidad y facilidad de uso percibida; además, obtuvimos resultados positivos en cuanto al rendimiento objetivo de los usuarios y la dificultad experimentada. / [CA] Els projectes de desenvolupament de programari són diversos per naturalesa. Per aquest motiu, les companyies es veuen forçades freqüenment a definir els seus mètodes de manera interna. Per poder definir mètodes de forma efectiva i eficient, les companyies necessiten solucions sistemàtiques que estiguin definides sobre uns fundaments metodològics sòlids. Proporcionar aquestes solucions és el principal objectiu de l'Enginyeria de Mètodes. L'Enginyeria de Mètodes és la disciplina que aborda el diseny, la construcció i l'adaptació de mètodes, tècniques i eines per al desenvolupament de sistemes d'informació. Durant les dues últimes dècades, s'ha dut a terme molt de treball de recerca en aquesta àrea. No obstant, malgrat els seus potencials beneficis, l'Enginyeria de Mètodes no s'aplica àmpliament en contextes industrials. Algunes de les principals causes d'aquesta situació són l'alta complexitat teòrica de l'Enginyeria de Mètodes i la falta d'un apropiat suport de programari. En aquesta tesi, pretenem mitigar alguns dels problemes que afecten a l'Enginyeria de Mètodes proporcionant una proposta metodològica innovadora que està basada en l'Enginyeria Dirigida per Models (MDE). L'ús de MDE ens permet elevar el nivell d'abstracció, automatització i reutilització, possibilitant una reducció de la complexitat de la nostra proposta. A més a més, aprofitant tècniques de MDE (com per exemple el metamodelat, les transformacions de models i els models en temps d'execució), la nostra aproximació suporta tres fases del cicle de vida de l'Enginyeria de Mètodes: diseny, implementació i execució. Açò és a diferència de les propostes existents, les quals, en general, només suporten una d'aquestes fases. Amb l'objectiu de proporcionar suport de programari per a la nostra proposta, implementàrem una eina CAME (Computer-Aided Method Engineering) anomenada MOSKitt4ME. Per garantir que MOSKitt4ME oferia la funcionalitat necessària, definírem un conjunt de requisits funcionals com a pas previ al desenvolupament de l'eina. Després de la definició d'aquests requisits, definírem la arquitectura de l'eina CAME i, finalment, implementàrem l'arquitectura en el contexte d'Eclipse. El treball desenvolupat en aquesta tesi es va avaluar per mitjà d'un estudi on van participar usuaris finals. En aquest estudi, MOSKitt4ME es va avaluar per mitjà del Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) i el mètode Think Aloud. Mentre que el TAM va permetre mesurar utilitat i facilitat d'ús de manera subjectiva, el mètode Think Aloud va permetre analitzar aquestes mesures objectivament. En general, els resultats obtinguts van ser favorables. MOSKitt4ME va ser valorat de forma positiva pel que fa a utilitat i facilitat d'ús percebuda; a més a més, vam obtenir resultats positius pel que fa al rendiment objectiu dels usuaris i a la dificultat experimentada. / Cervera Úbeda, M. (2015). A Model-Driven Approach for the Design, Implementation, and Execution of Software Development Methods [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/53931

This item contains the agenda, minutes, and attachments for the Faculty Senate meeting on this date. There may be additional materials from the meeting available at the Faculty Center.

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Le nouveau conservatisme noir voit le jour dans les années 1975-1980 et s’impose comme une idéologie singulière, représentée par une élite intellectuelle (Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Glenn Loury, Stephen L. Carter) graduellement institutionnalisée dans l’establishment conservateur. L’initiative personnelle, le self-help et le rejet des programmes politiques libéraux constituent les axes majeurs de cette doctrine. Les néoconservateurs afro-américains manifestent une grande confiance dans les principes économiques du libre-échange et rejettent l’interventionnisme d’État en faveur de la communauté raciale. L’attaque contre l’affirmative action s’accompagne du plaidoyer pour l’instauration de la norme de color blindness. Les actions entreprises dans le but de mettre un terme aux traitements préférentiels accordés aux minorités et aux femmes sont attentivement organisées par les acteurs de la droite américaine. Un réseau bien coordonné d’individus, des fondations conservatrices, organisations et groupes de réflexion se consacre à la promotion des stratégies color blind. Ward Connerly, homme d’affaires noir de Californie, est à la tête du mouvement pour l’abolition des traitements préférentiels accordés aux minorités et aux femmes. Bénéficiant d’un soutien fort de la part des institutions conservatrices, ses campagnes contre la politique préférentielle se concrétisent dans les États de Californie, du Washington, du Michigan et du Nebraska. / The new Black Conservatism emerges between 1975-1980 and is considered as a unique ideology. Its major representatives are intellectuals (Thomas Sowell, Shelby Steele, Glenn Loury, Stephen L. Carter) who are gradually “institutionalized” and integrated into the conservative establishment. Personal initiative, self-help and the contestation of liberal political programs represent the major axes of this ideology. Black neoconservatives greatly rely on the principles of free market economics and reject state interventionism in favor of the African-American community. Their attack on affirmative action is accompanied by attempts at instituting color blind politics. Actions undertaken in order to outlaw preferential treatment granted to minorities and women constitute a carefully organized operation. A well coordinated network of individuals, conservative foundations, organizations and think tanks are connected in this process and dedicate their efforts to advancing a color blind agenda. Ward Connerly, a black businessman from California, leads the movement for the abolition of preferential treatments granted to women and minorities. With the help of conservative institutions, his campaigns against preferential treatment put a ban of affirmative action in the States of California, Washington, Michigan and Nebraska.

A Sociedade e o mercado de trabalho exigem de cidadãos e trabalhadores, nos últimos tempos, um perfil de desempenho diferente daquele até então aceito. As principais carências do trabalhador dizem respeito, dentre outras necessidades, ao desempenho de certas competências pessoais e a melhoria do funcionamento cognitivo. As escolas, responsáveis pela preparação dessas pessoas para viver em Sociedade - o que inclui a preparação para o mundo do trabalho - não costumam realizar ações educacionais intencionais na direção da melhoria do desenvolvimento cognitivo de seus alunos. O foco do presente estudo está na possibilidade da Escola realizar intencionalmente o desenvolvimento cognitivo de estudantes, futuros trabalhadores. utilizando um programa já existente, criado e estruturado para essa finalidade por Reuven Feuerstein. No final da década de 1940, coube a Feuerstein a tarefa de educar centenas de crianças e jovens, órfãos da guerra, para que se tornassem cidadãos autônomos e produtivos. Diante da necessidade real de modificar o desempenho cognitivo e resgatar a cidadania dessas pessoas, Feuerstein criou - a partir de sua visão de mundo, de um conjunto de crenças por ele estabelecido e de sua experiência - duas teorias: Modificabilidade Cognitiva Estrutural e Experiência de Aprendizagem Mediada e três sistemas inter-relacionados, ou seja, um sistema de avaliação: Avaliação Dinâmica do Potencial de Aprendizagem, um sistema de intervenção: Programa de Enriquecimento Instrumental e um sistema de manutenção: Modelagem de Ambientes Modificadores. Avaliar o efeito do primeiro nível do Programa de Enriquecimento Instrumental (PEI I) no desenvolvimento cognitivo de estudantes da 3ª série de Escolas pública ou privada de Ensino Médio é o objetivo amplo desse trabalho. Em resumo, foram envolvidos no projeto 96 estudantes (54 rapazes e 42 moças) de duas Escolas de Ensino Médio: uma privada e outra pública. Sessenta e sete desses alunos participaram dos grupos experimentais que se submeteram ao PEI I e as outras 29 pessoas integraram grupos de controle, não participando, portanto, da aplicação do Programa. Todos os estudantes participaram de uma avaliação inicial diante de seis instrumentos, sendo que alguns deles permitiam avaliação dinâmica. Da análise dos resultados dos instrumentos, que envolviam avaliação dinâmica, foram levantadas necessidades e estabelecidos procedimentos de intervenção. Os alunos dos grupos experimentais foram submetidos ao primeiro nível do Programa de Enriquecimento Instrumental (PEI I). Durante a aplicação do PEI I, alunos participaram de avaliação intermediária, realizada a partir da aplicação de instrumento de avaliação e ou de questionário para levantamento da percepção dos estudantes sobre o PEI. Finalmente, todos os participantes foram submetidos a uma avaliação final. Os resultados foram analisados de forma descritiva e estatística. Os testes U ou de Mann- Whitney e o teste t de Student foram utilizados para indicar semelhanças e diferenças prováveis entre os desempenhos dos grupos de alunos. A partir da discussão desses resultados foram montadas proposições que justificaram as seguintes conclusões: A modificabilidade cognitiva estrutural dos estudantes dos grupos experimentais foi ampliada. O desenvolvimento cognitivo demonstrado pelos estudantes dos grupos experimentais foi maior que o desempenho cognitivo demonstrado pelos alunos do grupo de controle. / In the recent past, both society and labour market are demanding from citizens a performance far different from those accept until then. The major lacks of workers may concern, among others, to the development of specific personal competences and to the improve of the cognitive process. Schools, responsible for the preparation for life in society - including the life in the labour market - don\'t usually take intentional educational actions aiming the improve of the cognitive development of their students. The focus of the present study is mainly on analyzing the possibility of Schools to make an intentional effort to develop student\'s cognitive habilities, future workers, using a preexisting program created and structured for this meaning by Reuven Feuerstein. In the late 40\'s, Feurstein took the task of teaching hundreds of children and teenagers, war orphan children, to become autonomous and productive citizens. Facing the real need of improving their cognitive habilities and rescuing their citizenship, Feuerstein came up - using his own wide world perception, personal beliefs and experience - with two theories: Structural Cognitive Modifiability (SCM) and Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) and three interrelated systems, or an evaluation system: Learning Potential Assesment Device (LPAD), an interventional system: Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) and a maintenance system: Shaping Modifying Environments (ME). The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of the first level of the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE I) on 3rd grade public or private High School student\'s cognitive development. Summing up, there were 96 students involved in this project (54 boys and 42 girls) from two different High Schools: one private and one public. Sixty seven of these students were placed on experimental groups that were submitted to FIE I and the other 29 kids took part on control groups, staying away from the program application. All the students participated on an initial evaluation, facing six instruments, some of then allowing a dynamic evaluation. From the instrument result analysys, needs were raised and intervention procedures were established. The students\'s experimental group was submitted to the first level of the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE I). During its application, the students had an intermediary evaluation, made by the application of the evaluation instrument and by a questionnaire to measure the student\'s level of perception about the (FIE I). Finally, all the participants were submitted to a final evaluation. The results were analyzed in a descriptive statistical way. The U or Mann-Whitney tests and the t for Student test were used to indicate probable similarities and differences among the student\'s groups performances. From its discussion were put together propositions to justify the following conclusions: The student\'s experimental group structural cognitive modifiability was raised. The cognitive development shown by the student\'s experimental group was higher than the cognitive performance shown by the student\'s control group.