scholarly journals A Technique for Teaching Website Effectiveness in Undergraduate I.S. Courses

10.28945/2562 ◽  
2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Rathswohl

Website design practitioners and researchers have proposed criteria for effective website design based on experience and common sense, intuition, rules-of-thumb, and empirical studies of website usability. Typically, published checklists for evaluating websites emphasize design features such as information layout, navigability, and the technical performance of the website. University undergraduate students often first learn seriously about website design in introductory information systems courses. This paper describes a teaching pedagogy to help students learn how to evaluate commercial and organizational websites. The pedagogy emphasizes students developing their own criteria of website effectiveness and information quality, designing their own checklist incorporating those criteria, and then utilizing their checklist to rate websites in several e-commerce domains. The pedagogy emphasizes a mix of theoretical, practical, exercising, and real-world learning approaches.

Author(s):  
Barney Dalgarno ◽  
Barry Harper

<span>This paper describes two empirical studies which investigated the importance for spatial learning of view control and object manipulation within 3D environments. A 3D virtual chemistry laboratory was used as the research instrument. Subjects, who were university undergraduate students (34 in the first study and 80 in the second study), undertook tasks in the virtual laboratory and were tested on their spatial knowledge through written tests. The results of the study indicate that view control and object manipulation enhance spatial learning but only if the learner undertakes authentic tasks that require this learning. These results have implications for educational designers making a choice between video or animation and interactive 3D technologies. The results are discussed within the framework of Piaget's theories on active learning and Gibson's ecological theory of perception and action.</span>


Author(s):  
Maria Ulan ◽  
Welf Löwe ◽  
Morgan Ericsson ◽  
Anna Wingkvist

AbstractA quality model is a conceptual decomposition of an abstract notion of quality into relevant, possibly conflicting characteristics and further into measurable metrics. For quality assessment and decision making, metrics values are aggregated to characteristics and ultimately to quality scores. Aggregation has often been problematic as quality models do not provide the semantics of aggregation. This makes it hard to formally reason about metrics, characteristics, and quality. We argue that aggregation needs to be interpretable and mathematically well defined in order to assess, to compare, and to improve quality. To address this challenge, we propose a probabilistic approach to aggregation and define quality scores based on joint distributions of absolute metrics values. To evaluate the proposed approach and its implementation under realistic conditions, we conduct empirical studies on bug prediction of ca. 5000 software classes, maintainability of ca. 15000 open-source software systems, and on the information quality of ca. 100000 real-world technical documents. We found that our approach is feasible, accurate, and scalable in performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 750-766 ◽  
Author(s):  
Solomon Olusola Babatunde ◽  
Damilola Ekundayo ◽  
Olubola Babalola ◽  
Jumoke Aduramigba Jimoh

Purpose Building information modeling (BIM) inclusion in education pedagogy is crucial in preparing skilled graduates for employment in the construction industry. Against this backdrop, studies on BIM education abound in architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) programmes in higher education institutions (HEIs). However, there are limited empirical studies on BIM potentials in the quantity surveying (QS) profession in HEIs, particularly in developing countries. The purpose of this study is to identify and assess the BIM drivers and benefits as important to the QS profession using an empirical approach. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the BIM drivers and benefits in relation to the QS profession, which was used to design a questionnaire. To capture a broad perception, a questionnaire survey was carried out which targeted the academia and final year undergraduate students from two selected universities offering QS honour degree programmes in Nigeria. Data collected were analysed using mean score, standard deviation and Mann–Whitney test. Findings The study identified 12 BIM drivers in relation to the QS profession and the analysis of the ranking revealed that almost all the identified BIM drivers are considered by respondents as important. The study further identified 14 BIM benefits and the analysis of the ranking indicated that all the identified BIM benefits are considered as important. The results of the Mann–Whitney test indicated a slight statistically significant difference, particularly in one of the selected universities on the ranking of the BIM drivers and benefits as important to the QS profession. Practical implication The findings of the study provide empirical evidence on the current perceptions of the drivers and benefits of BIM to QS academia and students as they explore the concept for the advancement of QS profession. Originality/value This study would provide practical insights to use BIM for QS practice. Also, this study would contribute to improving the QS graduates and professional quantity surveyors understanding of the BIM knowledge applicable to QS profession.


ReCALL ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ki Chune Nah ◽  
Peter White ◽  
Roland Sussex

AbstractInterest in the use of a mobile phone to access the Internet for learning English in general, and listening skills in particular, has been increasing in Korea over the last few years. However, there has been only a small number of studies on this topic in Korea. The present paper investigates the potential of using a mobile phone to browse wireless application protocol (WAP) sites for the purpose of learning listening skills. The study focuses specifically on the attitudes of language learners toward using a mobile phone for this purpose. The study is based on input, interaction, output and sociocultural theories, as well as on collaborative, learner-centred, constructivist and task-based learning approaches. An experiment was carried out with a group of undergraduate students who had enrolled in a required intermediate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) listening course at a Korean university. A WAP site was designed and used as the instrument for the experiment. This study found that the language learners expressed positive attitudes towards the use of the WAP site. It also found that the WAP site can be effective for learning listening skills and for student-centred and collaborative learning. Based on the findings, it is clear that WAP sites can be effective for learning listening skills, since they can enhance opportunities to learn language skills, and encourage language learners to participate actively in the learning process.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 580
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Ritella ◽  
Fedela Feldia Loperfido

Learner-centered blended learning approaches, such as Knowledge Creation, emphasize the self-organizing characteristic of thought and action, and value the students’ autonomy and self-regulation during the engagement in collaborative learning tasks. In blended contexts, the students need to organize their learning paths within a complex environment, including multiple online and offline learning spaces. This process of self-organization during courses based on the Knowledge Creation approach is currently an overlooked topic of research. The present case study is aimed at addressing this research gap by providing an in-depth understanding of the collaborative self-organization of a group of five undergraduate students participating in an interdisciplinary media design course. The course was designed according to the Knowledge Creation approach and was carried out before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The dialogical theory of the chronotope and the theory of cultural models constitute the main theoretical tools for the research. We used qualitative methods inspired by ethnography, including participant observation, in addition to the collection and analysis of audio-visual records, stimulated recall interviews, and learning diaries completed by the students. The findings show that the group self-organization changed across different phases of the collaborative task and involved the development of specific practices of self-organization. Cultural models associated with the task contributed to determine the students’ choices related to self-organization.


Author(s):  
Shreemathi Mayya ◽  
A. Krishna Rao ◽  
Ramnaryana K.

A locally developed ‘Approaches to Learning Inventory (ALI)’ was administered to explore the learning difficulties and learning approaches of undergraduate students of Bachelor of Physiotherapy, College of Allied Health Sciences, Manipal. University examination marks of these students were also collected. Learning approach and learning difficulties were summarized by computing mean, standard deviation and percentage of students experiencing some of the academic and non-academic problems. Spearman’s correlation was computed between standardized scores of examination marks, learning approach and learning difficulty scale scores. Academic performance has shown significant negative correlation with surface approach and various problems of learners like fear of failure and lack of confidence, non-academic distracters and poor English language ability. This study demonstrated significant positive association between surface approach and various problems of the learners. The students have also reported a number of academic and non-academic problems.


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