Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Ann D. Murray / This study investigated the effects of sound-producing toys on the social and cognitive levels of play in young children. Thirty-four pairs of children were observed (N=68), ages 3, 4, and 5 years, during 15-minute play sessions. The play conditions were: 1) farm set with sound, 2) farm set with no sound, 3) doctor set with sound, and 4) doctor set with no sound. Independent variables included age, gender, and the presence or absence of sound. Dependent variables included the percentages of time that children engaged in levels of social play (solitary, parallel, and group), levels of cognitive play (functional, constructive, and dramatic), and non-play. Overall, sound was marginally associated with more time spent in play. For group play there was a marginally significant sound by gender interaction, suggesting that sound doubled female group play. There was a significant sound by age interaction suggesting that 5-year olds engaged in group play more with sound than with no sound. A significant sound by gender interaction indicated that the presence of sound increased dramatic play in both males and females, but more so in females. A sound by age interaction indicated that 5-year-olds engaged in more dramatic play with sound than without. Three-year-olds also engaged in more dramatic play when sound was present. There was a significant sound by gender interaction indicating males engaged in more functional play than girls when sound was present. There was a significant sound by age interaction, indicating that 5-year-olds engaged in less constructive play when sound was present. In conclusion, young children were more likely to engage in play when sound was present. Sound enhanced the play of 5-year-olds who engaged in more group and dramatic play, but less constructive play, with sound-producing toys. Sound also enhanced the play quality of 3-year-olds, who engaged in more dramatic play when sound was present. Furthermore, sound enhanced the play of girls who engaged in more group and dramatic play with sound, and boys, who engaged in more dramatic play with sound. Limitations of the study along with implications for future research are discussed.

Our understanding of the effects that human production and consumption has on our planet and its resources has challenged us to think differently when developing new products. In response to these problems, Eco Design has been developed over the last few decades. Eco Design is a process integrated into product and engineering design that aims to lower the environmental impact of products across their life cycle, whilst not hindering design brief criteria such as function, price, performance, and quality. Research in Eco Design has focused mainly on the development of new tools and ways to implement Eco Design in industry. However, there is still little empirical knowledge today regarding the state of Eco Design implementation and practices in industry; in addition to the prerequisite needs and factors to successfully implement Eco Design. The aim of this research has been to review the level and type of Eco Design in the British Product Design industry and to identify recurrent themes helping or hindering implementation. This was achieved through the use of a pilot study followed by a two stage case study design, involving 20 cases and 57 participants across 65 interviews. The investigation and its analysis produced 12 confirmed themes, each generating their own drivers and barriers to Eco Design implementation. This research into Eco Design implementation provides a unique contribution and a timely insight into the Eco Design practices of the British Product Design industry today. The research also provides the novel contribution of identifying the drivers and barriers to implementing and sustaining Eco Design, as well as an understanding of the strengths and shortfalls of the current Eco Design processes and tools. These contributions to knowledge in the field of Eco Design will help future research formulate better solutions to implement Eco Design processes in the Product Design industry.

This thesis is a study of multiple access schemes for satellite land mobile systems that provide a domestic or regional service to a large number of small terminals. Three orbit options are studied, namely the geostationary, elliptical (Molniya) and inclined circular orbits. These are investigated for various mobile applications and the choice of the Molniya orbit is justified for a U. K. system. Frequency, Time and Code Division Multiple Access (FDMA, TDMA and CDMA) are studied and their relative merits in the mobile environment are highlighted. A hybrid TDMA/FDMA structure is suggested for a large system. Reservation ALOHA schemes are appraised in a TDMA environment and an adaptive reservation multiple access protocol is proposed and analysed for a wide range of mobile communication traffic profiles. The system can cope with short and long data messages as well as voice calls. Various protocol options are presented and a target system having 100,000 users is considered. Analyses are presented for the steady state of protocols employing pure and slotted ALOHA and for the stabilty of the slotted variant, while simulation techniques were employed to validate the steady state analysis of the slotted ALOHA protocol and to analyse the stability problem of the pure ALOHA version. An innovative technique is put forward to integrate the reservation and the acquisition processes. It employs the geographical spread of the users to form part of the random delay in P-ALOHA. Finally an economic feasibility study is performed for the spacesegment. For costs of capital (r) less than 23 % the discounted payback period is less than the project's lifetime (10 years). At r- 8% the payback period is about 5.6 years, while the internal-rate-of-return is 22.2 %. The net present value at the end of the projects lifetime is £M 70 at r-8%.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate preschool teachers' perceptions about how they work with responding to children in need of special support as part of the preschool's inclusion work. The study further includes what resources are available in the preschool to make the best possible for children in need of special support. The study is based on which working methods preschools use when including all children in preschool activities. The design of the environment is important for inclusion in the business. This study is based on a qualitative method with interviews as a way of gathering data material about the inclusion of children, even those in need of special support from legitimate-preschool teachers. It is based on interviews in five different communes to see differences and similarities between what resources and working methods the preschools have available to work with including all the children. The results indicate that it differs between the preschools for their resources and how they work with children in need of special support to include all children in the activities. There are differences in what the informants think about what children in need of special support are and some point out that it can be whole families that need support. All informants also explain about the design of the environment and how important it is in their work of including all the children. What all five preschools have in common is that they have special pedagogue available for their preschool teachers. The views that the data material is analyzed from are theories intersectional perspective and socio-cultural perspective. / Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka förskollärares uppfattningar om hur de arbetar med att bemöta barn i behov av särskilt stöd som en del av förskolans inkluderingsarbete. Studien innefattar vilka resurser som finns att tillgå i förskolan, för att göra bästa möjliga för barn i behov av särskilt stöd. Studien utgår från vilka arbetssätt som förskolor har gällande att inkludera alla barn i förskolans verksamhet. Miljöns utformning är betydelsefull för inkluderingen i verksamheten. Denna studie utgår från en kvalitativ metod, med intervjuer som samlar in datamaterial om inkludering och barn i behov av särskilt stöd från legitimerade förskollärare. Studien utgår ifrån intervjuer i fem olika kommuner för att se skillnader och likheter mellan vilka resurser och arbetssätt som förskolorna har till förfogande i arbetet. I resultatet framkommer det skillnader mellan olika förskolor med vilka resurser som finns att tillgå, hur pedagogerna arbetar med barn i behov av särskilt stöd och att inkludera alla barn i verksamheten. Det är skillnader på informanternas beskrivningar om barn som är i behov av särskilt stöd och några påvisar att hela familjer som är i behov av stöd. Det alla fem förskolorna har gemensamt är att de har tillgång på specialpedagog. Alla informanter förklarade även kring miljöns utformning som är en viktig del i arbetet för en inkluderande verksamhet. Synsätten som datamaterialet analyseras ifrån är teorierna intersektionellt perspektiv och sociokulturellt perspektiv.

SAMMANFATTNING Bakgrund  Upplevelsen av hälsa och välbefinnande är beroende av hur miljön vi befinner oss i är utformad. Ett av sjuksköterskans ansvarsområden är att se efter att vårdmiljön uppfyller patientens behov. Vårdmiljön kan utformas av flera olika aspekter såsom ljud, ljus och natur vilka alla har förmågan att kunna skapa en känsla av trygghet. Sjukvårdsreformatorn F. Nightingale menade att den fysiska miljön var lika viktig som den psykiska och sociala omgivningen för att återfinna hälsa samt förebygga sjukdomar.  Syfte  Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt var att beskriva aspekter i vårdmiljön som främjar patientens välbefinnande.  Metod  Metoden som valdes för denna studie var en icke-systematisk litteraturöversikt. Databassökningar gjordes i PubMed, CINAHL, Academic Search Elite samt manuella sökningar. Ett urval av 17 vetenskapliga artiklar gjordes efter noggrann granskning. Artiklarna som användes var både kvalitativa och kvantitativa, dessa har kvalitetsgranskats med hjälp av Sophiahemmets Högskolas bedömningsunderlag. Integrerad dataanalys användes som metod.  Resultat  En hälsofrämjande vårdmiljö påverkar patientens välbefinnande och autonomi under tiden de vårdas på sjukhus. Det första intrycket vid besök på sjukhus är det som utgörs av den fysiska miljön. Vidare framkom att enkelrum ledde till minskat buller, bättre sömn samt stärkt socialt stöd och personlig integritet. Fönster och utsikt över naturen skapade en känsla av fridfullhet då naturen kunde hjälpa till att stärka patientens inre kraft genom distraktion. Naturligt ljus ökade välmåendet och förbättrade sömnen. En välkomnande vårdmiljö med ”mysighetsfaktor” och avskildhet ökade känslan av hemtrevlighet vilket förbättrar välbefinnandet hos patienterna och ökade dessutom närvaron av anhöriga vilka utgjorde ett stort stöd för patienterna.  Slutsats  Genom en ökad kunskap om vårdmiljöns betydelse för patientens välbefinnande, kan åtgärder vidtas för hur allmänna utrymmen utformas. Vårdmiljön kan antingen stödja eller hindra patientens återhämtningsprocess och har kapaciteten att främja patientens livskvalitet. Denna studie ger en inblick i vårdmiljöns betydelse och bidrar med lärdomar som vidare kan tillämpas i vårt framtida kliniska arbete inom professionen.  Nyckelord: Patienters nöjdhet, patientens acceptans av vård, patienter, miljödesign, vårdmiljö. / ABSTRACT Background  The design of the environment affects our experience of health and well-being. One of the nurse's responsibilities is to ensure that the care environment meets the patient's needs. The care environment can be designed by several different factors such as sound, light and nature. All with a capacity to provide a feeling of security. According to healthcare reformer F. Nightingale, the physical environment was equally important to the psychological and social environment in order to regain health and prevent disease.  Aim  The purpose of this literature review was to describe aspects of the care environment that promote the patient’s well-being.  Method  The method used was non-systematic literature review. Database searches were performed in PubMed, CINAHL, Academic Search Elite as well as manual searches. A selection of 17 scientific articles was made after careful review. The articles were of both quantitative and qualitative research methods, these have been quality checked with the help of Sophiahemmet University’s assessment data. They were analysed based on the integrated data analysis method.  Results  A health-promoting care environment affects the patient's well-being and autonomy while they are being cared for in hospital. The first impression when visiting a hospital is that of the physical environment. Furthermore, it turned out that single rooms led to reduced noise, better sleep and strengthened social support and personal integrity. Windows and views of nature created a feeling of peace as nature could help strengthen the patient's inner power through distraction. Natural light as well as artificial light increased the well- being and improved sleep. A welcoming care environment with a “cosiness factor” and privacy increased the feeling of homeliness, which improves the well-being of the patients and also increased the presence of relatives who constituted a great support for the patients.  Conclusion  Through increased knowledge on the importance of the care environment for the well- being of the patient, measures can be taken focusing on the design of public spaces in this environment. The care environment can either support or hinder the patient's recovery process and has the ability to promote the patient’s quality of life. This study provides an insight into the importance of the care environment and contributes with lessons that can be further applied in our future clinical work within the profession.  Keywords: Patient satisfaction, patient acceptance of health care, patients, environment design, health facility environment.

Hållbarhet värderas allt högre utav konsumenter och allt fler företag satsar på ett utökat hållbarhetsarbete. Detta innebär att företag borde utveckla sitt hållbarhetsarbete för att bli eller fortsätta att vara konkurrenskraftiga. Konsumtionen av livsmedel står för 25 % av hushållens klimatpåverkan. Inom dagligvaruindustrin finns därmed en stor potential för förbättring. För ett utvecklat hållbarhetsarbete krävs innovativa lösningar. Design som process har visat sig kunnabidra med detta. Dock har studier visat på att trots att företag värderar design högt så implementeras det inte i samma utsträckning. Potentialen som design innehar riskerar därmed att gå förlorad av aktörerna på marknaden. Uppsatsen ämnar till att undersöka vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att design skall implementeras för att utveckla hållbara produkter inom dagligvaruindustrin. Studien är en multipel fallstudie med en kvalitativ ansats. Tre intervjuer har genomförts med europeiska företag som verkar på den svenska dagligvaru- och livsmedelsmarknaden. Studien visade på vikten av att företag genomsyras av hållbarhet och har en hög förståelse fördesign. Det är av vikt att såväl design som hållbarhet implementeras i början av produktutvecklingsprocessen som även kallas för Front-End. / Sustainability is increasingly valued by consumers and more companies are expanding the incorporation of sustainability in their work. This means companies should develop the incorporation of sustainability in their work to stay or become competitive on the market. The consuming of groceries accounts for 25 % of the households climate influence. Within the fast moving consumer goods industry there is therefore a potential of improvement. To develop the incorporation of sustainability in a company requires innovative solutions. Design as a process has been able to contribute with exactly this. Although, studies have shown that even though companies value design highly it is not implemented to the same extent. The potential that design possesses is therefore at risk of being lost by the actors of the market. The thesis intends to explore which factors that are important for design to be implemented to develop sustainable products in the fast moving consumer goods industry. The study is a multiple case study with a qualitative approach. Three interviews have beenmade with european companies that are active on the swedish fast moving consumer goodsindustry market. The study showed that it is of importance for a company to be permeated by sustainability andto have a high understanding of design. Furthermore, it is of importance that design as well assustainability is implemented in the beginning of the product development process that is also known as Front-End.

Objectives: The objectives of this research were to describe the interactions (formal and informal) in which macrocognitive functions occur and their location on a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU); describe challenges and facilitators of macrocognition using three constructs of space syntax (openness, connectivity, and visibility); and analyze the health care built environment (HCBE) using those constructs to explicate influences on macrocognition. Background: In high reliability, complex industries, macrocognition is an approach to develop new knowledge among interprofessional team members. Although macrocognitive functions have been analyzed in multiple health care settings, the effect of the HCBE on those functions has not been directly studied. The theoretical framework, “Macrocognition in the Health Care Built Environment” (m-HCBE) addresses this relationship. Methods: A focused ethnographic study was conducted, including observation and focus groups. Architectural drawing files used to create distance matrices and isovist field view analyses were compared to panoramic photographs and ethnographic data. Results: Neighborhoods comprised of corner configurations with maximized visibility enhanced team interactions as well as observation of patients, offering the greatest opportunity for informal situated macrocognitive interactions (SMIs). Conclusions: Results from this study support the intricate link between macrocognitive interactions and space syntax constructs within the HCBE. These findings help to advance the m-HCBE theory for improving physical space by designing new spaces or refining existing spaces, or for adapting IPT practices to maximize formal and informal SMI opportunities; this lays the groundwork for future research to improve safety and quality for patient and family care.

Patrick and Felicia are a couple who run a farm. Every day they harvest their crops and sell them at the local market. This is the family's everyday life and today's income goes to all the family'sexpenses such as food, water, and transport to the market. At the end of the day, the family's totalbudget results in plus or minus zero. The crop that was not sold must be thrown away because itrots during the night. If the family had a refrigerator, they would have been able to store the cropsand extend their life of it, which in turn gives them the opportunity to also sell the crops the nextday and earn more money. The crux of the family is that the cheapest refrigerator on the marketis far too expensive to buy and operate due to electricity costs. The cooler of MittiCool Clay is acooler made of clay that costs around 1000 SEK and does not need electricity. Instead, it uses thenatural laws of thermodynamics to cool the contents making it free to operate.This is an example of a scenario where a product can create value for a family living in a resourceconstrainedenvironment (RCE). The product can offer a possible way to be able to save moneyand eventually be able to afford schooling for their child, a savings capital for crises and healthcareThis thesis uses a human-centred design process to create a solution for this target group. Thechallenge for these particular people in this project is the low access to clean water.Through a need-finding process that resulted in 10 insights that served as a guide in the project.In three workshops and with a contoured idea generation process with residents and designteachers, a variety of ideas could be developed. The ideas were put together and became concepts.The concept was evaluated through an evaluation matrix based on the needs of the users, thetechnical possibility, and the potential financial sustainability. At the end of the evaluationprocess, one concept remained Life Cube. The concept is a franchise, product and a service thatenables residents to clean their grey cat through an off-grid "cube" to drinkable quality. Theconcept also provides an opportunity for a prospective cube owner to run his own business andoffer this service.Four billion people live at the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid and can be potentialcustomers. The feasibility study showed that there are very few products in this market today andthat the number of potential customers is large. Creating a so-called ‘frugal innovation’, combinedwith the fact that it is financially sustainable with very small funds, is complex. This requires thatthe innovator works locally with the user's specific needs and usually with local resources and thatthe local economic and physical infrastructure is considered.The conclusion is that one can use human-centred design to create products and services for peopleliving in a resource-constrained environment. The basis of the process is based on people's needs,economic situation, infrastructure, institutions, resource availability, which are essential factorsto consider for the solution desired by the user, technically viable and financially sustainable. Asecond conclusion is that the difficulties of product development towards this target group requireresources and knowledge that are not usually required in product development contexts towardsthe market that belonged to the top of the socio-economic pyramid, which can complicate theproduct development. / Patrick och Felicia är ett par som driver en odling. Varje dag skördar de sina grödor och säljer påden lokala marknaden. Det här är familjens vardag och dagens inkomst går åt till alla familjensutgifter som mat, vatten och transport till marknaden. I slutet av dagen så resulterar familjenstotalbudget i plus minus noll. Skörden som inte blev såld måste slängas för att den ruttnar ändåunder natten. Hade familjen haft ett kylskåp hade dom kunat förvara grödorna och förlängtlivstiden på den, som i sin tur ger dom möjligheten att även sälja grödorna dagen efter och tjänamer pengar. Kruxet för famlijen är att den billigaste kylen på marknaden är alldeles för dyr attköpa och driva på grund av elkostnaderna. Kylen av MittiCool Clay är en kyl gjord i lera somkostar runt 1000 SEK och istället använder termodynamikens naturlagar för att kyla innehållet,vilket gör att den inte kostar något att driva.Detta är ett exempel på ett scenario där en product kan skapa värde för en familj som lever i enresursbegränsad miljö (RBM). Produkten kan erbjuda en möjlig väg för att kunna spara pengaroch så småning om kunna ha råd med en skolgång till sitt barn, ett sparkapital för krissituationeroch sjukvård. Detta examensarbete använder en människocentrerad design process för attskapa en lösning mot denna målgrupp, alltså människor som lever i en resurs begränsad miljö.Utmaningen för just dessa personer i detta projekt är den låga tillgången till rent vatten.Genom en behovsidentifieringsprocess som resulterade i 10 stycken insikter som fungeradesom en guide i projektet. I tre workshops och med en konteurnelig idegenereringsprocess medlokala invånare och designlärare kunde en mängd ideer tas fram. Ideerna sammanfogades ochblev till koncept. Koncepten utvärderades genom en utvärderingsmatris som grundades påanvädnarnas behov, den tekniska möjligheten och den potentiellt finansiella hållbarheten. I slutetav utvärderingsprocessen återstod ett concept, Life Cube. Konceptet är en franchise, produkt ochen tjänst som möjligör för lokalbon att rena sitt gråvatten genom en off-grid “kub” till drickbarkvalité. Konceptet ger även möjlighet för en blivande kub-ägare att driva sin egen verksamhet ocherbjuda denna tjänst.Förstudien visade att det finns väldigt få produkter mot denna marknad idag och att antaletpotentiella kunder är stort. Fyra miljarder människor lever i botten av den socioekonomiskapyramiden och kan vara potentiella kunder. Att skapa en så kallat ‘frugal innovation’, ikombination med att den är finansiellt hållbar med väldigt små medel är komplext. Det kräver attinnovatören arbetar lokalt med användarens specifika behov och oftast med lokala resurser, samtatt den lokala ekonomiska och fysiska infrastrukturen tas i beaktning.Slutsattsen är att man kan använda människocentrerad design för att skapa produkter ochtjänster för människor som lever i en resursbegränsad miljö. Processens grund baseras påmänniskornas behov, ekonomsika situation, infrastruktur, institutioner, resurstillgängligheten,vilket är essensiella faktorer att ta hänsyn till för att lösningen ska vara önskvärd av användaren,teknisk möjlig och finansiellt hållbar. En andra slutsats är svårigheterna med att produktutvecklamot denna målgrupp kräver resurser och kunskap som vanligtvis inte krävs i produktutvecklingssammanhang mot marknaden som tillhör toppen av den socioekonomiska pyramiden, vilketkan försvåra utvecklingsarbetet.

Game development is a multifaceted field that involves both traditional software practices and creative work. It is characterized by its iterative and time-consuming process where prototypes are created and then evaluated. This is especially true for creating 3D environments, where it is difficult to evaluate the quality before it is completed. This means that time-consuming and repetitive tasks often have to be redone during the design process of a game. This is an experimental study to analyze the process of creating procedural generation tools for level artists by identifying key problems in their workflow and defining guidelines for how to work with or around them. This was done by interviewing designers to identify common problems in their workflow. This information was then used to create a prototype which was designed to solve some of the problems identified. A user study was then performed involving developers, mainly level artists. The user study assessed the usability of the tool, and whether or not it had the potential to solve any of the stated problems. The user study and the construction process were used to further analyze the key problems when creating PCG tools for designers and artists. In the end, four main problems were identified. The first is the importance of iteration and how any artist-oriented tool has to work with the iteration workflow. The second is that artists do not necessarily have the technical knowledge to intuitively understand a highly algorithmic tool. The third is that all PCG doesn’t have to create finished products, instead creating something almost right that can be manually adjusted can be enough to improve the workflow. The final key problem is that artist value control over their tools highly so it doesn’t impact their artistic vision negatively, so it is important to give them many options in how they can customize and control the tool. / Spelutveckling är ett mångfacetterat område som involverar både traditionell mjukvarupraxis och kreativt arbete. Det kännetecknas av sin iterativa och tidskrävande process där prototyper skapas och sedan utvärderas. Detta gäller särskilt för att skapa 3D-miljöer, där det är svårt att utvärdera kvalitén innan den är fullskapad. Detta innebär att tidskrävande och repetitiva uppgifter ofta måste göras om under designprocessen av ett spel. Detta är en experimentell studie med syftet att analysera processen att skapa procedurgenereringsverktyg för nivåkonstnärer genom att identifiera nyckelproblem i deras arbetsflöde och definiera riktlinjer för hur man arbetar med eller runt dem. Detta gjordes genom att intervjua designers för att identifiera vanliga problem i deras arbetsflöde. Denna information användes sedan för att skapa en prototyp som utformades för att lösa några av de identifierade problemen. En användarstudie genomfördes sedan med utvecklare, främst nivåkonstnärer. Användarstudien bedömde verktygets användbarhet och om det hade potential att lösa något av de angivna problemen eller inte. Användarstudien och byggprocessen användes för att ytterligare analysera nyckelproblemen när man skapade PCG-verktyg för designers och konstnärer. Till slut identifierades fyra huvudproblem. Den första är vikten av iteration och hur alla konstnärsorienterade verktyg måste fungera med iterationsarbetsflödet. Det andra är att konstnärer inte nödvändigtvis har den tekniska kunskapen för att intuitivt förstå ett mycket algoritmiskt verktyg. Det tredje är att alla PCG inte behöver skapa färdiga produkter, i stället kan det räcka att skapa något som är nästan rätt som kan justeras manuellt för att förbättra arbetsflödet. Det sista nyckelproblemet är att konstnärer värderar kontroll över sina verktyg högt så det inte påverkar deras konstnärliga vision negativt, så det är viktigt att ge dem många alternativ för hur de kan anpassa och kontrollera verktyget.

This study was motivated by a desire to address the challenges of introductory programming courses. Ethiopian universities teach such courses in large classes (80+ students) and students complain about the difficulty of the courses and teaching variation of instructors. The study was set to explore optimum course and learning environment design approaches. The research question raised was: how can a blended learning approach be used to improve large class teaching of programming? In an action design research approach, the study was initiated with redesigning two consecutive courses and a supportive blended learning environment on the basis of existing learning theories and educational design frameworks. Two cycles of action research were conducted for a dual goal of refinement and evaluation of the intervention. The action research was conducted during the 2012/13 academic year with 240 students at the beginning. A predominantly quantitative first cycle of action research produced a mixed outcome. The students’ marks from assessment activities were fairly close to results from two other international universities. A pre- and post-implementation survey of students’ approach to learning showed a slight class level change towards the deep learning approach. Conversely, some students were found at-risk (not progressing well) and certain technologies, particularly program visualisation tools, were found underutilised. The second action research cycle aimed to explain the result from the first round. A grounded action research evaluation of data from focus group discussions, interviews and participants’ memos identified plausible factors for meaningful programming learning in a large class. These factors were use of collaborative and pair programming; alignment of learning and assignment activities; integrated use of e-learning; and use of large class strategies like student mentors and team teaching. A critical realist interpretation of the result of the action research suggested that students can learn programming in large classes, 200+ in this study, with a course and learning environment design that keeps them engaged in learning and assessment activities. The study concludes that improved learning of programming can be possible with the use of students as mentors and changed role-dynamics of instructors, which presupposes adaptation of suitable pedagogical approaches and use of technologies. / School of Computing / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Systems)