Narrative visualization is a young and emerging field, driven mainly by data journalists. For this reason, most data stories available today are author-driven. However, with the rise of interactive visualizations the possibilities for creating reader-driven stories have become apparent. In this thesis, we present a straigthforward prototype, AsylKoll, built to support the articulation of reader-driven stories about Swedish immigration during 2015. We test its ability to support reader-driven stories by performing two user-studies based on the Think Aloud Method. In particular, we evaluate the prototype along the dimensions of reader engagement and learning. We find that user-centric data and various effects, such as transitions and mouse-overs, have a positive impact on reader engagement. In addition, we find that typical tasks such as extracting extremes and making comparisons are very important for users to gain insight and learn from the data. Foremost, this thesis shows the potential that simple, interactive visualizations have to make people engage and gain insights from data. / Att skapa faktabaserade narrativ med hjälp av datavisualiseringar är någonting som blir allt mer vanligt idag. Utvecklingen drivs framför allt av datajournalister och av den anledningen är det typiskt sett författardrivna historier som berättas. På senare tid har det dock blivit allt lättare att utveckla avancerade, interaktiva visualinsergar och det har öppnat för skapa faktabaserade narrativ drivna av läsaren istället. Läsardrivna narrativ är det som vi utforskar i den här studien. Med hjälp av en prototyp som vi byggt, AsylKoll, som visar statistik från asylinvandringen till Sverige under 2015, undersöker vi vad som krävs av en visualisering för att användare ska kunna härleda sina egna faktabaserade historier från den. Vi kollar i synnerhet på hur man kan uppmana användaren att interagera med verktyget samt vad som krävs för att användaren ska lära sig från datan. Verktyget testas genom två användarstudier med ’Think Aloud’-metoden. I studien finner vi att data centrerad kring användaren och olika typer av effekter, såsom transitioner och mouse-overs, påverkar användarens vilja att interagera med visualiseringarna positivt. Vidare finner vi även att typiska funktioner som exempelvis möjligheten att snabbt hitta extremvärden samt att kunna göra olika jämförelser av data, är viktigt för lärandet.

The digital world offers endless possibilities. New technology is constantly released, and different ways to interact with and use systems are often introduced. Even though the usefulness of digital systems can be high, the constant ongoing release of new technology forces users to keep up. To be able to participate in the world of digital technology, a user must possess the necessary understanding of how to use and interact with the technology in question. This project addresses the topic of digital accessibility, with focus on elderly. Defined accessibility concepts are gathered through a literature study and used in the process of developing two new prototypes of the web application Klimatkollen. The prototypes are then evaluated, partially through a Think Aloud process where users over 60 years old rate the difficulty of performing specified tasks in the prototypes. Due to deviations in the test process, it is not possible to conclude if the accessibility concepts used in this project have any effect on the usage of a system. However, the literature study, and the concepts gathered can be used as a starting point for future research.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

La traduction n’est pas une pratique linéaire qui part d’un texte-source (Ts) pour arriver à un texte-cible (Tc). La traduction est un exercice de compréhension et de ré-expression d'un discours qui suppose la mobilisation de connaissances linguistiques et thématiques. Les étapes du processus de traduction (compréhension du texte de départ, médiation culturelle et linguistique, mise en forme du texte d'arrivée) ne sont plus considérées comme une simple séquence de décodage et de recodage des messages. La progression des sciences cognitives au cours des vingt dernières années a permis de nourrir une réflexion multidisciplinaire aux frontières des neurosciences, de la psychologie, de la philosophie, de la linguistique et de l'intelligence artificielle. L’essentiel dans notre thèse consiste à découvrir la phase de « déverbalisation » lors de l’acte traduisante, un processus mentale qui ne peut être compris sans les apports des sciences cognitives. Parmi les nombreuses méthodes expérimentales sur le processus de la traduction on distingue entre la méthode de collection de données in vivo, c'est-à-dire prises sur le vif pendant l’opération traduisante, et la méthode de collection de données in vitro, c’est à dire après que le traducteur a eu fini de traduire. Dans cette recherche, en appliquant deux méthodologies TAPs(Think-aloud-protocols) et le logiciel Translog, on va étudier les problèmes rencontrés dans l’acte de traduction français-persan par nos participants ainsi que les stratégies utilisées par eux pour résoudre les problèmes linguistique et culturelles. / The translation is not a linear act starting from a text source to reach the final text. The steps of the translation process (comprehension of the original text, cultural and linguistic mediation, shaping the target text) aren’t considered as a simple sequence of decoding and recoding messages. The progress of cognitive science in the last twenty years has helped feed a multidisciplinary study at the frontiers of neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, linguistics and artificial intelligence. The essential point of our thesis is to find the phase of " deverbalization " during the translation process. This is a mental process that couldn’t be understood without the contributions of cognitive science. Among the many experimental methods in the process of translation distinguishes between the method of data collection in vivo, that is to say, taken on the spot during the translation process, and the method of collection of in vitro data, is once the translator has finished translating. In this research, using a combination of the two process- oriented Approaches to study professional translation online: verbal reporting, better known as TAPs (think- aloud protocols), and Translog program for logging keyboard activity, we will examine the problems encountered in the act of translation French -Persian by our participants and the strategies used by them to solve linguistic and cultural problems.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

The subject of iterative prototyping with data is still in its infancy and problems arise when people with low programming skills aim to build a full-stack interactive web application on their own. This research attempts to evaluate how providing a framework with predefined notations and data structures can improve this process for novice developers. The work consists of an initial reimplementation of a model website and the evaluation of study participants with little experience in the frontend development field through the application of the Cognitive Dimensions and the Think-aloud methods. We have found that by eliminating the requirement of dealing with back-end queries through the offering of such a framework, the process of designing an interactive web application can be facilitated and hastened. There are, nevertheless, some improvements that can be made to further refine their programming experience. / Ämnet kring att framställa iterativa prototyper med data är fortfarande i sin begynnelse och problem uppstår när personer med låg kunskap i programmering har som mål att bygga en full-stack interaktiv webbapplikation. Denna forskning utvärderar hur utvecklingsprocessen kan förbättras för nya utvecklare genom att erbjuda ett ramverk med fördefinierade beteckningar och datastrukturer. Denna studie består av en implementerad modell av en webbapplikation samt utvärdering av studiedeltagare med begränsad erfarenhet inom front-end-utveckling. Utvärderingen gjordes genom användning av ramverket “Cognitive Dimensions” med tillhörande “Think-aloud”-metod. Resultatet visar att genom att eliminera krav för att hantera back-end-anrop har processen att designa en interaktiv webbapplikation kunnat underlättats och påskyndats med hjälp av ett ramverk. Resultatet identifierade även förbättringspunkter som kan implementeras för att vidare underlätta ramverkets programmeringsupplevelse för användare.

The overall aim of this thesis was to study the thinking strategies and clinical reasoning processes of registered nurses (RNs) and to implement and test a computerized decision support system (CDSS) integrated into the electronic health care record (EHR) to improve patient outcomes, i.e. to prevent pressure ulcers (PUs) and malnutrition among residents in nursing homes.  A think-aloud (TA) study with a purposeful sample of RNs (n=30) was conducted to explore their thinking strategies and clinical reasoning (Paper I). A quasi-experimental study with a convenience sample of residents (at baseline, n=491 and at follow-up, n=480) from nursing homes (n=15) allocated into two intervention groups and one control group was carried out in 2007 and 2009 (Paper II). In Paper III residents’ records were reviewed with three instruments. Nursing personnel (n=25) from four nursing homes that had used the CDSS for eight months were interviewed and the CDSS was tested by nursing personnel (n=5) in two usability evaluations (Paper IV). The results showed that the RNs used a variety of thinking strategies and a lack of systematic risk assessment was identified (Paper I). The proportion of malnourished residents decreased significantly in one of the intervention groups after implementing the CDSS, however there were no differences between the groups (Paper II). The CDSS resulted in more complete and comprehensive documentation of PUs and malnutrition (Paper III). The nursing personnel considered ease of use, usefulness and a supportive work environment as the main facilitators of CDSS use in nursing homes. Barriers were lack of training, resistance to using computers and limited integration of the CDSS within the EHR system (Paper IV). In conclusion, the findings support integrating CDSSs into the EHR in nursing homes to support the nursing personnel.

The objective of this multiple case study was to examine how three pairs of high school students from a northern Vermont high school approached quadratic functions through traditional and multiple representation tasks. Four research questions were examined: 1) How do students think about the quadratic function as they work on a series of tasks? 2) What mathematical strategies do students employ when they work on a series of tasks related to the quadratic function? 3) How does the type of task, traditional versus multiple representation, impact students' understanding of the quadratic function? 4) What kinds of knowledge (procedural or conceptual) do students utilize when completing a series of tasks about the quadratic function? Qualitative research methods that utilized think-aloud protocols while students were engaged in four tasks pertaining to the quadratic function were employed in this study. Results suggested that students tend to think about isolated parts of the problem when solving quadratic problems. Early on in their learning about quadratics, students primarily relied on procedural strategies such as think-alouds, gestures, algebraic formulas, converting equation forms, process of elimination, dissecting problems, backtracking, and drawing pictures. In addition, students preferred the standard form to the vertex form when solving quadratics and often confused the y-intercept of the standard form with the y-coordinate of the vertex when the function was in vertex form. Results also indicated that students preferred to algebraically solve a problem versus tabular or graphical strategies. By exploring how students approach the quadratic function through their own voices, this study offers some insight into the conceptions and strategies that students use for solving problems that involve the quadratic function as well as possibilities for how quadratics may be taught in high school.

The subject of this thesis is the identification of strategies, which are used by lower-secondary school students when solving problem tasks in chemistry. The strategies were identified during talks with ninth-grade students. The talks conducted by using the Think-aloud method were connected with solution of selected problem tasks. The ascertained strategies were classified as expansive strategies (such strategy can be used to solve more types of problems) and limiting strategies (such strategy can be used to solve easy task, but they can fail when solving more difficult tasks). Furthermore, reader's strategies, which help students to understand the tasks were separately identified. Also, other problems that students had to face when solving the tasks were identified. To identify problematic elements a collection of problem tasks named Metodické komentáře a úlohy ke standardům pro základní vzdělávání - chemie (Methodical comments and tasks for educational standards for elementary education - chemistry) were used. The results showed that when students solved the tasks, which were larger and more difficult, they often used reading strategies, which consist in multiple reading and reading aloud. Some of the expansive strategies the students used consisted in analogous deducing and logical reasoning....

In time, more historical documents have become accessible through various technological modes including the Internet, CD-ROMs, and local databases. Teachers are now able to infuse a rich variety of resources into lessons with relative ease. This study measured expert historian heuristics in secondary students engaged in analysis of technologically-enhanced historical documents relating to women in the early United States republic. Nine 10th grade Advanced Placement world history students from an urban high school in the southeastern United States were assigned randomly to one of three conditions: paper historical documents, HTML historical documents, and HTML historical documents with simulated, limited Internet access. Using a think-aloud protocol developed by Jonassen et al. (1999), the qualities and frequencies of expert historian heuristics were measured. The findings support and enhance previous research related to how secondary students learn history while performing a task using primary and secondary source documents and the effects of hypermedia technology. Most of the time, students engaged in a simplistic read-and-react pattern, except for two participants who recognized greater levels of subtext. The two students account for slightly more than 50% of all heuristics. Moreover, the students in general failed to perceive nuances between the documents, engaged in presentism, and viewed history as a uniform expansion of civil rights and increased opportunities. However, all the participants achieved some level of understanding indicating that women enjoyed fewer rights than their white, male counterparts. In the HTML groups, the participants moved within and between the documents with greater frequency and nonlinearly. While in the Internet group, forays to the simulated Internet invoked a high proportion of expert heuristics and resulted in statements of clear understanding. The results imply that computer technologies promote authenticity and learner control. Furthermore, expert heuristics can help students manage information from the Internet. In addition, the paucity of heuristics exhibited by most subjects suggests a lack of prior knowledge and inexperience with historical documents. This may be a result of the way history is taught in the schools. The results are discussed within the framework of previous research and the cultural wars.