A Corpus-assisted Discourse Analysis of Music-related Practices Discussed within Chipmusic.org

abstract: This study examined discussion forum posts within a website dedicated to a medium and genre of music (chiptunes) with potential for music-centered making, a phrase I use to describe maker culture practices that revolve around music-related purposes. Three research questions guided this study: (1) What chiptune-related practices did members of chipmusic.org discuss between December 30th, 2009 and November 13th, 2017? (2) What do chipmusic.org discussion forum posts reveal about the multidisciplinary aspects of chiptunes? (3) What import might music-centered making evident within chipmusic.org discussion forum posts hold for music education? To address these research questions, I engaged in corpus-assisted discourse analysis tools and techniques to reveal and analyze patterns of discourse within 245,098 discussion forum posts within chipmusic.org. The analysis cycle consisted of (a) using corpus analysis techniques to reveal patterns of discourse across and within data consisting of 10,892,645 words, and (b) using discourse analysis techniques for a close reading of revealed patterns. Findings revealed seven interconnected themes of chiptune-related practices: (a) composition practices, (b) performance practices, (c) maker practices, (d) coding practices, (e) entrepreneurial practices, (f), visual art practices, and (g) community practices. Members of chipmusic.org primarily discussed composing and performing chiptunes on a variety of instruments, as well as through retro computer and video game hardware. Members also discussed modifying and creating hardware and software for a multitude of electronic devices. Some members engaged in entrepreneurial practices to promote, sell, buy, and trade with other members. Throughout each of the revealed themes, members engaged in visual art practices, as well as community practices such as collective learning, collaborating, constructive criticism, competitive events, and collective efficacy. Findings suggest the revealed themes incorporated practices from a multitude of academic disciplines or fields of study for music-related purposes. However, I argue that many of the music-related practices people discussed within chipmusic.org are not apparent within music education discourse, curricula, or standards. I call for an expansion of music education discourse and practices to include additional ways of being musical through practices that might borrow from multiple academic disciplines or fields of study for music-related purposes.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Music Education 201

Technologie en innovatie in Vlaanderen: Prioriteiten.

Vlaanderen;

E-finance-lab at the House of Finance : about us

The financial services industry is believed to be on the verge of a dramatic [r]evolution. A substantial redesign of its value chains aimed at reducing costs, providing more efficient and flexible services and enabling new products and revenue streams is imminent. But there seems to be no clear migration path nor goal which can cast light on the question where the finance industry and its various players will be and should be in a decade from now. The mission of the E-Finance Lab is the development and application of research methodologies in the financial industry that promote and assess how business strategies and structures are shared and supported by strategies and structures of information systems. Important challenges include the design of smart production infrastructures, the development and evaluation of advantageous sourcing strategies and smart selling concepts to enable new revenue streams for financial service providers in the future. Overall, our goal is to contribute methods and views to the realignment of the E-Finance value chain. ..

Monitieteisten opiskelijaprojektien verkkopohjainen tukeminen

The aim of this work is to investigate, how project courses can be supported with online tools. Especially learning in projects and supporting the progression of projects is inspected. The ultimate goal would be that the students would form a team and get started fluently as well as work efficiently in projects while also learning and getting feedback. Practical online methods are created especially for the needs of mechatronics and cell biology student projects at Aalto University. The literature review examines interdisciplinary projects, learning, teaching and assessment in projects, phases of a project and project management and software used in project courses. Challenges of projects are presented with the help of questionnaire results at the beginning of the research part. Different types of preliminary methods have been developed to tackle these challenges. These include a formation of a team exercise, instructions for online project management, visualizing a course process with a diagram as well as tools for self- and peer-assessment. A case course was available to test some of the methods. The experiences of the students were inspected with a questionnaire. Based on the research, a plan was created for example projects, where students in a cell biology course and students in a mechatronics course will cooperate. The plan includes, what the students do together and what separately and what teaching methods are used. This research provides the reader a good understanding about the utilization of online methods in project courses. It is brought out how the visualization of different aspects can support the progression of a project and what kind of documentation and instruction should be utilized. Based on the research, several practical recommendations can be given. For example, asking students to write down and share their working time was found to even out the workload of a team and the documentation of the students from previous years was seen as a useful baseline for the new students.Tämän työn tarkoituksena on tutkia, miten projektikursseja voidaan tukea verkkopohjaisilla menetelmillä. Erityisesti tarkastellaan oppimista projekteissa ja projektien etenemisen tukemista. Tavoitteena olisi, että opiskelijat ryhmäytyvät ja pääsevät liikkeelle sujuvasti sekä työskentelevät tehokkaasti projektissa samalla oppien ja saaden palautetta. Työssä on erityisesti tarkoitus luoda käytännöllisiä verkkopohjaisia menetelmiä Aalto-yliopiston mekatroniikan ja solubiologian opiskelijaprojekteja varten. Kirjallisuusselvityksessä tehdään katsaus monitieteisiin projekteihin, projekteissa oppimiseen, projektikurssien opettamiseen ja arviointiin, projektien vaiheisiin ja projektinhallintaan sekä projektikursseilla käytettyihin verkkopohjaisiin työkaluihin. Tutkimusosiossa on esitetty projektien haasteita kyselytulosten avulla. Verkkopohjaisia menetelmiä kehitettiin vastaamaan näihin haasteisiin. Näihin menetelmiin lukeutui ryhmäytymisharjoitus, ohjeistus verkkopohjaiseen projektinhallintaan, kurssin etenemisen visualisointi, sekä työkalu itse- ja vertaisarviointia varten. Tutkimusta varten oli käytössä case-kurssi, jolla osaa menetelmistä testattiin. Opiskelijoiden kokemuksia kerättiin kyselytutkimuksella. Tutkimuksen perusteella luotiin suunnitelma esimerkkiprojekteille, joissa solubiologian ja mekatroniikan kurssien opiskelijat tekevät yhteistyötä. Suunnitelma käsittää sen, mitä asioita opiskelijat tekevät yhdessä ja mitä erikseen, ja millaisia opetusmenetelmiä käytetään. Tämä työ tarjoaa lukijalle hyvän perusymmärryksen verkkopohjaisten menetelmien hyödyntämisestä projektikursseilla. Työssä tuodaan esille, millä tavoin projektin tekijöiden visualisointi voi tukea projektin etenemistä ja millaisia dokumentaatioita ja ohjeistuksia projekteissa tulisi hyödyntää. Tutkimustulosten perusteella voidaan antaa myös useita käytännön suosituksia. Esimerkiksi opiskelijoiden työskentelyajan kirjaamisen havaittiin tasaavaan ryhmän työkuormaa ja edellisten vuosien opiskelijoiden tuottama dokumentaatio nähtiin hyödyllisenä vertailukohtana uusille opiskelijoille

Developing innovation competences in engineering education through project-based and challenge-based learning

There is a gap between industry needs and engineering graduates’ competences that since the past two decades has been under discussion. Engineering graduates are perceived as “too theoretical” by the industry and face difficulties when adapting to the practical working context. This gap is being mostly tackled by project-based courses. Furthermore, the expected competences of the future engineers go beyond the purely technical skills. Competences like creativity, innovativeness, business skills, sense of responsibility, problem-based thinking, collaboration, ability to communicate and effectively dealing with stress and uncertainty, among others, will be increasingly important in the future. Innovation competences in particular are key to tackle current societal challenges, but there is limited understanding about what innovation competences are developed through different types of project-based courses. An education that remains only in the scope of technical skills traditionally expected from engineers will eventually limit the capabilities of the engineers to influence strategy and management decisions, as well as concept definition for new products and services. Institutions like ABET, CDIO and ENAEE – EUR-ACE®, highlight these demands for future engineers’ competences. Ultimately, the more engineers master the innovation process beyond the technical aspects, the more impact they can have in shaping the society of the future, and the greater chances they have to position themselves as decision makers. This study discusses what are the innovation competences needed for engineering students and pedagogical approaches to develop those competences, with the aim of understanding how to better design educational strategies to improve innovation competences in future engineering graduates. A broad literature review was developed on existing innovation competences models and pedagogical approaches to develop innovation competences, going from problem-based to project-based learning to challenge-based education, from New Product Development to Design Thinking, and through different strategies to measure innovation competences. Through a mixed method approach, combining quantitative analysis of surveys and qualitative content analysis of project results, we compared two experiential learning courses developed at the UPC Telecom school: a project-based course and a challenge- based course. We compared self-perception on innovation competences using the INCODE (Innovation Competences Development) Barometer and we developed a qualitative content analysis of project results and self-reflection documents of two groups of engineering students from Telecom Engineering school from UPC going through CBI (Challenge Based Innovation) course versus PDP (Product Development Project) course. CBI is an innovative learning experience carried out by three institutions: Telecom Engineering School of UPC, ESADE Business School and IED Instituto Europeo di Design in collaboration with CERN, where mixed teams of students from the three institutions face open innovation challenges through Design Thinking, with the objective of designing solutions to complex societal problems, considering the use of CERN technologies if suitable. PDP is the “standard” capstone course taken by Telecom engineering students following a classical project management approach based on the CDIO framework. Results shows that experiential learning approaches like project-based and challenge-based education are good educational strategies for developing competences and, explicitly, innovation competences in engineering education, but each strategy emphasizes some competences more than others. Project-based courses demonstrates better results in Planning and Managing Projects. Creativity, Leadership and Entrepreneurship are more developed through a challenge-based approach combined with Design Thinking.Existe una brecha entre las necesidades de la industria y las competencias de los graduados en ingeniería que se ha estado debatiendo desde las últimas dos décadas. Los graduados en ingeniería son percibidos como "demasiado teóricos" por la industria y encuentran dificultades para adaptarse al contexto laboral real. Esta brecha se aborda principalmente mediante cursos basados en proyectos, desarrollando las competencias esperadas de los futuros ingenieros, que van más allá de las habilidades puramente técnicas. Competencias como la creatividad, la innovación, las habilidades empresariales, el sentido de la responsabilidad, el pensamiento basado en problemas, la colaboración, la capacidad para comunicarse y afrontar eficazmente el estrés y la incertidumbre, entre otras, serán cada vez más importantes en el futuro. Las competencias de innovación en particular son clave para abordar los desafíos sociales actuales. Pero hay una comprensión limitada sobre qué competencias de innovación se desarrollan a través de diferentes tipos de cursos basados en proyectos. Instituciones como ABET, CDIO y ENAEE - EUR-ACE®, destacan estas demandas de competencias de los futuros ingenieros. Este estudio analiza cuáles son las competencias de innovación necesarias para los estudiantes de ingeniería y los enfoques pedagógicos para desarrollar estas competencias, con el objetivo de comprender cómo diseñar mejores estrategias educativas para el desarrollo de competencias de innovación en los futuros graduados en ingeniería. Se desarrolló una extensa revisión de la literatura incluyendo modelos de competencias de innovación y enfoques pedagógicos existentes para desarrollar competencias de innovación, pasando del aprendizaje basado en problemas al aprendizaje basado en proyectos y la educación basada en retos. También se estudió el desarrollo de nuevos productos (NPD) y el pensamiento de diseño (Design Thinking), así como diferentes estrategias para medir competencias de innovación. A través de un enfoque de métodos mixto, combinando el análisis cuantitativo de encuestas y el análisis de contenido cualitativo de resultados de proyectos, se compararon dos cursos de aprendizaje experiencial desarrollados en la escuela Telecomunicaciones de la UPC: un curso basado en proyectos PDP (Proyecto de desarrollo de producto) y un curso basado en retos (CBI-Challenge Based Innovation). Se analizó la autopercepción sobre competencias de innovación utilizando el Barómetro INCODE (Innovation Competences Development), y se desarrolló un análisis de contenido cualitativo de los resultados de proyectos y documentos de autorreflexión. CBI es una experiencia de aprendizaje innovadora llevada a cabo por tres instituciones: Escuela de Ingeniería de Telecomunicaciones de la UPC, ESADE Business School e IED Istituto Europeo di Design en colaboración con CERN, donde equipos mixtos de estudiantes de las tres instituciones enfrentan desafíos de innovación abierta a través del Design Thinking, con el objetivo de diseñar soluciones a problemas sociales complejos, considerando el uso de tecnologías CERN (si es apropiado). PDP es el curso final ¿estándar¿ que toman los estudiantes de ingeniería de telecomunicaciones siguiendo un enfoque clásico de gestión de proyectos basado en el marco CDIO. Los resultados muestran que los enfoques de aprendizaje experiencial como la educación basada en proyectos y la educación basada en retos son buenas estrategias educativas para desarrollar competencias y, específicamente, competencias de innovación en la educación en ingeniería. Pero cada estrategia enfatiza algunas competencias más que otras. Los cursos basados en proyectos demuestran mejores resultados en la planificación y gestión de proyectos. La creatividad, el liderazgo y el espíritu empresarial se desarrollan más a través de un enfoque basado en retos combinado con Design Thinking.Postprint (published version

Co-designing a chatbot for and with refugees and migrants

An information portal, HandbookGermany.de, is developed to support the integration of refugees and migrants into society in Germany. However, the information-seeking process is exhausting, cumbersome, and even confusing if refugees and migrants are not proficient at using web services. In light of this, a chatbot-based conversational service is considered as an alternative to enhance the information-seeking experience. For the purpose of designing products and services for refugees and migrants, a great deal of research proposes employing co-design methods as an effective means. The overall aim of this thesis is to explore, understand, and define possibilities of improving refugees and migrants’ experiences of social integration by proposing an engaging and efficient chatbot solution. Furthermore, this thesis aims to explore the necessity of co-design approach as a critical methodology to develop solutions. Therefore, the main research question in this thesis is how can a co-design approach contribute to designing a chatbot supporting social integration within the context of refugees and migrants. User experience, problems, and needs are unveiled in depth by listening to migrants and refugees’ problems, behaviors, and expectations (i.e., document studies, questionnaires, cultural probes, and expert interviews), and observing how migrants interact with the chatbot (i.e., participant observations and empathy probes). The research findings are then transformed into design questions. The designer, developers, and migrants jointly generate concepts leveraging generative toolkits in co-design workshops. By using surveys, the Method for the Assessment of eXperience (MAX), and property checklists, the resulting concepts are later validated with refugees and migrants. As research through design, this thesis draws three conclusions. Firstly, the co-design approach benefits defining problems in the complex context of refugees and migrants by supporting them in expressing ideas and thoughts. The defined problems can then be converted into design questions that promote the proceeding of the design process. Secondly, the co-design approach helps to develop mature concepts, which lays a foundation for the final design. Thirdly, the utilization of co-design tools plays an essential role in validating and refining the solution efficiently, as they make ideas concrete and visible so that refugees and migrants can easily reflect on them throughout the whole design process

Passionate Charts: Arguments for Empathetic Emotions in Data Vis

Aristotle has considered the art of communication as a balance of logos, ethos, and pathos. While in science, logos (reason) and, recently also, ethos (morality) are discussed as aspects not to be neglected, pathos (feeling) is seen critically. In this work, we take a historical perspective on pathos and weigh the pros and cons of applying this rhetorical concept to the field of data visualizations. To better understand data, connecting it to the human way of thinking is imperative - appealing to emotions is one building block. The theoretical and empirical basis originates from different scientific fields, like social sciences, economics, and humanities. Tangible techniques to target empathetic emotions in data visualizations are introduced, as well as other rhetorical devices, such as interactivity and contextual framing, are highlighted. Researching these different approaches can provide new insights regarding the creation and influence of empathetic emotions in data visualizations.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figur

Field Theory Toward a Post Critical Theory of Metaphor

Metaphor studies have become vogue in postcritical culture among the scientific and socio-scientific communities, in advertising and in the political arena. In fact, advertisers and marketers for years have known the power of a resonant metaphor to change minds and hearts. Once relegated to the realms of literature and linguistics, metaphor studies today represent the cutting edge of research in nearly every discipline. However, the church and the Biblical Studies academy have essentially ignored this trend, still engaging predominantly in close critical analyses of texts and refusing for the most part to engage in popular culture. This dissertation agrees with theorists Lakoff and Johnson, and others, that metaphors are the DNA of meaning, identity and therefore the necessary catalysts for visioning and change. Because metaphors are inherent in every human thought process, they are also creative, relational, multi-dimensional and interactive. When metaphors are transported from closed literary systems into cultural systems, they take on roles as change agents. I call this kind of open system metaphor theory in my dissertation, “field theory.” Metaphors exist powerfully within fields. They are prismic entities containing depth and breadth. They relate not linearly but in networks and webs. Field theory in the sciences and social sciences has educated us in the way fields behave, and I will draw on scientific and interdisciplinary definitions of “field” in order to explain the way that metaphor can function and contribute powerfully to both the theory and praxis of ministry and in contemporary postcritical culture. Metaphor field theory can help bridge divides inherent between theory and praxis, between church and culture and within and between individuals and can provide the tools for identity building, visioning and mission within postcritical culture. The artifact for this dissertation therefore will introduce a new kind of nonprofit cross-cultural society that transcends boundaries and creates new field space for communication, creativity and an integrated synergetic vision

Work flows in life science

The introduction of computer science technology in the life science domain has resulted in a new life science discipline called bioinformatics. Bioinformaticians are biologists who know how to apply computer science technology to perform computer based experiments, also known as in-silico or dry lab experiments. Various tools, such as databases, web applications and scripting languages, are used to design and run in-silico experiments. As the size and complexity of these experiments grow, new types of tools are required to design and execute the experiments and to analyse the results. Workflow systems promise to fulfill this role. The bioinformatician composes an experiment by using tools and web services as building blocks, and connecting them, often through a graphical user interface. Workflow systems, such as Taverna, provide access to up to a few thousand resources in a uniform way. Although workflow systems are intended to make the bioinformaticians' work easier, bioinformaticians experience difficulties in using them. This thesis is devoted to find out which problems bioinformaticians experience using workflow systems and to provide solutions for these problems.\u