78,339 research outputs found
How Advanced Change Patterns Impact the Process of Process Modeling
Process model quality has been an area of considerable research efforts. In
this context, correctness-by-construction as enabled by change patterns
provides promising perspectives. While the process of process modeling (PPM)
based on change primitives has been thoroughly investigated, only little is
known about the PPM based on change patterns. In particular, it is unclear what
set of change patterns should be provided and how the available change pattern
set impacts the PPM. To obtain a better understanding of the latter as well as
the (subjective) perceptions of process modelers, the arising challenges, and
the pros and cons of different change pattern sets we conduct a controlled
experiment. Our results indicate that process modelers face similar challenges
irrespective of the used change pattern set (core pattern set versus extended
pattern set, which adds two advanced change patterns to the core patterns set).
An extended change pattern set, however, is perceived as more difficult to use,
yielding a higher mental effort. Moreover, our results indicate that more
advanced patterns were only used to a limited extent and frequently applied
incorrectly, thus, lowering the potential benefits of an extended pattern set
Health Figures: An Open Source JavaScript Library for Health Data Visualization
The way we look at data has a great impact on how we can understand it,
particularly when the data is related to health and wellness. Due to the
increased use of self-tracking devices and the ongoing shift towards preventive
medicine, better understanding of our health data is an important part of
improving the general welfare of the citizens. Electronic Health Records,
self-tracking devices and mobile applications provide a rich variety of data
but it often becomes difficult to understand. We implemented the hFigures
library inspired on the hGraph visualization with additional improvements. The
purpose of the library is to provide a visual representation of the evolution
of health measurements in a complete and useful manner. We researched the
usefulness and usability of the library by building an application for health
data visualization in a health coaching program. We performed a user evaluation
with Heuristic Evaluation, Controlled User Testing and Usability
Questionnaires. In the Heuristics Evaluation the average response was 6.3 out
of 7 points and the Cognitive Walkthrough done by usability experts indicated
no design or mismatch errors. In the CSUQ usability test the system obtained an
average score of 6.13 out of 7, and in the ASQ usability test the overall
satisfaction score was 6.64 out of 7. We developed hFigures, an open source
library for visualizing a complete, accurate and normalized graphical
representation of health data. The idea is based on the concept of the hGraph
but it provides additional key features, including a comparison of multiple
health measurements over time. We conducted a usability evaluation of the
library as a key component of an application for health and wellness
monitoring. The results indicate that the data visualization library was
helpful in assisting users in understanding health data and its evolution over
time.Comment: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 16.1 (2016
Supporting peer interaction in online learning environments
This paper reports two studies into the efficacy of sentence openers to foster online peer-to-peer interaction. Sentence openers are pre-defined ways to start an utterance that are implemented in communication facilities as menu’s or buttons. In the first study, typical opening phrases were derived from naturally occurring online dialogues. The resulting set of sentence openers was implemented in a semi-structured chat tool that allowed students to compose messages in a freetext area or via sentence openers. In the second study, this tool was used to explore the students’ appreciation and unprompted use of sentence openers. Results indicate that students hardly used sentence openers and were skeptical of their usefulness. Because both measures were negatively correlated with students’ prior chat experience, optional use of sentence openers may not be the best way to support students’ online interaction. Based on these findings, alternative ways of using sentence openers are discussed and topics for further research are advanced
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