Learning the syntax, semantics, and concepts behind software engineering can be a challenging task for many individuals. This paper examines the Alice 3 software, a three-dimensional visual environment for teaching programming concepts, to determine if it is an effective tool for improving student achievement, raising self-efficacy, and engaging students. This study compares the similarities and differences between a Fundamentals of Programming course with and without Alice integrated into the curriculum. Both the treatment and control Groups are using the same Java materials, assignments, and exams. The treatment group also completes Alice activities for each programming concept throughout the course; as well as two Alice assignments.

This thesis has been carried out at the company Stakkr AB in Stockholm. Stakkr have considered moving their existing C++ code to the visual programming language Blueprints in Unreal Engine 4. The objective of this study was to examine the performance of Blueprint if it’s suitable for mobile games, as well to provide Stakkr a suitability assessment of writing code in Blueprint and examine how well it performs compared with the language programming language C++. The assessment of suitability was performed by implementing a translation of two existing C++ classes to Blueprints and an assessment was made regarding development in Blueprint and performance testing between the existing C ++ and the developed Blueprint classes. The method of execution of the assessment was to work agile in short and structured iterations. The assessment of the suitability of the study showed that it was user-friendly to develop with Blueprint. However the existing C ++ classes outperformed the classes written in Blueprints. The reason why Blueprints perform worse has been identified and recommendations regarding the performance issues have been developed. / Detta examensarbete har genomförts på företaget Stakkr AB i Stockholm. Stakkr har övervägt att flytta över sin befintliga C++ kod till det visuella programmeringsspråk Blueprints i Unreal Engine 4. Målet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka om prestandan i Blueprints är lämplig för mobilspel samt att tillhandahålla Stakkr en lämplighetsutvärdering av att skriva kod i Blueprints och undersöka hur bra den presterar jämfört med språkstandarden C++. bedömningen av lämpligheten utfördes genom att genomföra en översättning av två befintliga C++ klasser till Blueprints, en bedömning av att utveckla i Blueprints har gjorts och prestandatester har utförts mellan de befintliga C++ gentemot de utvecklade Blueprintklasserna. Metoden för utförandet av bedömningen var att arbeta agilt i korta och strukturerade iterationer. Bedömningen från lämplighetsundersökningen visade att det var användarvänligt att utveckla i Blueprints. Dock presterade Blueprintklasserna sämre än de befintliga C++ klasser. Anledningen till varför Blueprints presterar sämre har identifierats och rekommendationer gällande detta har tagits fram.

Contemporary approaches to cross-platform mobile application development, such as hybrid apps from PhoneGap and generated native apps from Xamarin, show promise in reducing development time towards Android, iOS and other platforms. At the same time, studies show that there are various problems associated with these approaches, including suffering user experiences and codebases that are difficult to maintain and test properly. In this thesis, a novel prototype framework called Building Blocks was developed with the purpose of investigating the feasibility of utilizing component-based software engineering in solving this problem. The prototype was developed towards Android along with a web interface that allowed users to assemble an Android app using software components. The report concludes that component-based software engineering can be – and already is – utilized successfully to improve cross-platform mobile app development with special regards to user experience. Qualitative data indicate that Building Blocks as a concept is flexible and shows promise for mobile app development in which functionality is often reused, such as enterprise apps. Rapid prototyping using the web-based visual editing tool was another promising area. However, future use of Building Blocks would require further work on the prototype to improve its ease of use.

Parametric design can be used for structural design. This approach has someclear advantages compared to the conventional point-based approach using differentComputer Aided Design (CAD)-software, especially in early stage of design. Since themodel is parametrically defined, alternate designs, that are within the scope of theparametric definition, can be explored with little effort from the user compared tothe point-based models. In this way, optimization routines can be used to make moreinformed decisions about the design. Pipe bridges usually have a similar design that issuitable to be defined parametrically.The aim of the thesis is to automate the modeling of pipe bridges in the earlystages of design, to make an integrated analysis and to optimize the structure withregard to material cost and carbon dioxide equivalent-emissions as well as mass ofthe structure. Further, to investigate in what way these objectives are correlated.This thesis improves an existing grasshopper script used to design pipe bridges andimplement an automatic generation of a Bill of Quantity (BoQ).The results of the thesis case study suggests that there is potential in usingoptimization with parametric design to minimize the cost of pipe bridges. With a goodparametric design definition alternate designs can be explored with little effort fromthe user. This benefit to speed up the design process, and allowing the designer towork with adaptable design, could be reasons to turn to a parametric design method.It should also be stressed that this thesis suggests a correlation between the cost of thestructure and the carbon dioxide equivalent emission from the structure. Meaning thatwhile minimizing emissions one could also be minimizing the cost.

В работе представлен алгоритм извлечения данных о проверках из информационной модели с целью контроля качества, также алгоритм создания проверки с использование Dynamo. / The paper presents an algorithm for extracting inspection data from an information model for the purpose of quality control, as well as an algorithm for creating a check using Dynamo.

Sedentary behavior is linked to numerous adverse effects on a person’s health, such as obesity, depression, and a higher risk of cardiovascular events. Professions that are primarily sedentary have increased due to the growth of office-related occupations, one of which is software engineering. A potential intervention to reduce sedentary behavior is to utilize new interactive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) to change the work context and allow software engineers to interact with their work environment in a more embodied manner. This study has designed and evaluated a visual programming language (VPL) in VR for its potential to reduce sedentary behavior and its compromise on usability. Ten participants solving simple programming tasks using the VPL in VR revealed the potential of reducing continuous sedentary behavior with light physical activity. The main contributor to this activity was the need to walk to and from interactive elements placed a few meters from each other in the design. However, the usability evaluation showed that users modify the environment over time to reduce this distance such that less walking is needed. In contrast, movement induced by navigating to code blocks and getting an overview of the current state of the work had positive marks and a high contribution to the observed movement. Lastly, the second contributor to physical activity was moving blocks around. The usability evaluation indicates that using VR controllers was slower than using a mouse but allowed more precise interactions. / Stillasittande beteende har ett flertal negativa effekter på en persons hälsa, såsom obesitas, depression och en högre risk för kardiovaskulära händelser. Yrken som främst är stillasittande har ökat på grund av tillväxten av yrken som är kontorsbaserade, till exempel mjukvaruutveckling. Ett potentiellt ingripande för att minska stillasittande beteende är att använda nya interaktiva tekniker, så som virtuell verklighet (VR) för att förändra arbets kontexten och låta mjukvaruingenjörer interagera med sin arbetsmiljö på ett mer förkroppsligat sätt. Denna studie har utvecklat och utvärderat en visuellt programmeringsspråk (VPL) i VR för dess potential att minska stillasittande beteende och dess kompromiss på användbarhet. Tio deltagare som löste enkla programmeringsuppgifter med hjälp av VPL i VR visade potentialen för att bryta upp stillasittande beteende med lätt fysisk aktivitet. Den främsta bidragsgivaren till den observerade aktivitet var behovet av att gå till och från interaktiva element placerade med några meter avstånd från varandra. Utvärderingen visade dock att användare modifierar miljön över tid för att minska detta avstånd så att man behöver gå mindre. Däremot hade rörelser när man behöver navigera till kodblock och få en överblick över arbetet positiva kommentarer och ett högt bidrag till den observerade aktiviteten. Slutligen var aktiviteten att flytta runt block den handling som bidrog näst mest till den observerade fysisk aktivitet. Utvärderingen av användbarheten indikerar att VR-kontroller var långsammare än att använda en mus men tillät mer tillförlitliga interaktioner.

This thesis describes a visual programming language designed to describe and generate Ada program unit specifications. The author first describes the foundations for the work, and gives a brief introduction to some of the features of the language. Most of the thesis is dedicated to describing the visual representation for each portion of an Ada package specification. The BNF grammar of an Ada package specification is used as a basis for organization. By organizing the thesis via the package specification, all program unit specifications i.e., package, task, subprogram and generic specifications) are described and given a representation in the language. Toward the end of the thesis, the design and reference of a package specification is demonstrated in a hypothetical implementation. / Master of Science

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Visual perception modeling is generally weak for game AI and computer generated forces (CGF), or agents, in computer games and military simulations. Several tricks and shortcuts are used in perceptual modeling. The results are, under certain conditions, unrealistic behaviors that negatively effect user immersion in games and call into question the validity of calculations in fine resolution military simulations. By determining what the computer-generated agent sees using methods similar to that used to generate the human players' screen view in 3- D virtual environments, we hope to present a method that can more accurately model human visual perception, specifically the major problem of a entity "hiding in plain sight" / Lieutenant, United States Navy

There has been a dramatic increase in the utilization of technology within the fields of education and rehabilitation in the past two decades. Two studies focused on technology intended to assist a total of seven young adults with developmental disabilities to increase independence, decrease the need for paid supports, and improve task performance. Participants completed food preparation tasks in an employee break room, adhering to an industry specific protocol, while using a task application on an iPad that provided audio and video prompts. A multiple baseline across participants was used to show effects of the intervention on task performance and reliance on prompts. Results indicated that using an application on an iPad to video model tasks was effective in improving and maintaining accurate skill performance, while reducing the need for prompts. Participants in both study one and study two demonstrated mastery of task performance using the iPad application. In study one, three of the four participants faded the use of prompts, whereas only one of the three participants demonstrated independence in study two. Implications for future research are discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-04T18:51:20Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Trenhago2.pdf: 15966707 bytes, checksum: 00c5e69b3e4ccb8745765adf1d2fa0a8 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-03-23 / Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior / This work describes the development of a software structure that currently controls the CAVE at LNCC, as well as its use for biological data visualization. This work also includes the adaptation and configuration of the InstantReality framework considering all particularities of the CAVE built at LNCC, which amongst other things does not have square walls all around (two walls have a particular shape). In order to accompish this task we make use of the emerging X3D technology. This work also proposes a process for fast development of biological data visualization. Such process has been used to develop a series of sample applications, which included geometric description of parts of the human cardiovascular system as well as other structures such as parts of worms and other creatures, visualization of proteine models and virus envelops both relying or not on some programming language. This work also introduces important aspects of complex surface visualization and describes the implementation of a GPU based ilumination model. Additionally, some justifications are presented regarding the use of Virtual Reality as a tool for bioinformatics visuzalization or biologic applications. Finally, this work evaluates the CAVE prototype, considering each of its components, in the light of the results achieved in the biologic visualization applications developed. Problems are identified and further improvements are proposed. / Este trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de uma estrutura lógica de software para o controle do CAVE do LNCC e sua utilização na visualização de dados biológicos. Configuramos e adaptamos o framework InstantReality para fazer funcionar todos os componentes singulares do CAVE do LNCC ( uma parede não ortogonal, duas paredes com cinco lados, projetores convencionais, entre outros ) por meio de uma tecnologia emergente, o X3D, usado para distribuir conteúdo 3D multimídia pela Internet. Propomos um processo para o rápido desenvolvimento, recorrendo ou não a uma linguagem de programação, de aplicações para visualização de dados biológicos, tais como: descrição geométrica de parte do sistema cardiovascular humano, de parte de uma larva, visualização de modelos de proteínas e capsídios de vírus. Apresentamos questões importantes na visualização de superfícies complexas, como a importância do modelo de iluminação utilizado e descrevemos a implementação de um modelos de iluminação em GPU. Adicionalmente, justificamos o emprego da Realidade Virtual como ferramenta valiosa para a visualização em bioinformática, e mesmo na biologia. Finalmente, avaliamos a eficiência geral do CAVE e de cada componente,através dos resultados obtidos na visualização de cenários temáticos de interesse biológico. Identificamos possíveis problemas e sugerimos opções para uma melhoria geral do desempenho.