IDR : a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary design in technology enhanced learning

One of the important themes that emerged from the CAL’07 conference was the failure of technology to bring about the expected disruptive effect to learning and teaching. We identify one of the causes as an inherent weakness in prevalent development methodologies. While the problem of designing technology for learning is irreducibly multi-dimensional, design processes often lack true interdisciplinarity. To address this problem we present IDR, a participatory methodology for interdisciplinary techno-pedagogical design, drawing on the design patterns tradition (Alexander, Silverstein & Ishikawa, 1977) and the design research paradigm (DiSessa & Cobb, 2004). We discuss the iterative development and use of our methodology by a pan-European project team of educational researchers, software developers and teachers. We reflect on our experiences of the participatory nature of pattern design and discuss how, as a distributed team, we developed a set of over 120 design patterns, created using our freely available open source web toolkit. Furthermore, we detail how our methodology is applicable to the wider community through a workshop model, which has been run and iteratively refined at five major international conferences, involving over 200 participants

Developing a Measurement Instrument for Subjective Aspects of Information Quality

Having quality information is crucial for effective operations and decision making within organisations. The InfoQual framework provides a sound theoretical basis for defining information quality at three levels: syntactic (form), semantic (content), and pragmatic (usage). Objective measures can be defined for the syntactic and semantic levels. In this paper, we focus on the pragmatic level by developing and empirically testing an instrument that aims to measure subjective aspects of information quality based on the perceptions of information consumers. In combination, such a framework and instrument have the potential to aid organizations in identifying problems and planning improvement strategies for information qualit

Discovering Data Quality Problems

Existing methodologies for identifying dataquality problems are typically user-centric, where dataquality requirements are first determined in a top-downmanner following well-established design guidelines, orga-nizational structures and data governance frameworks. In thecurrent data landscape, however, users are often confrontedwith new, unexplored datasets that they may not have anyownership of, but that are perceived to have relevance andpotential to create value for them. Such repurposed datasetscan be found in government open data portals, data marketsand several publicly available data repositories. In suchscenarios, applying top-down data quality checkingapproaches is not feasible, as the consumers of the data haveno control over its creation and governance. Hence, dataconsumers – data scientists and analysts – need to beempowered with data exploration capabilities that allowthem to investigate and understand the quality of suchdatasets to facilitate well-informed decisions on their use.This research aims to develop such an approach fordiscovering data quality problems using generic exploratorymethods that can be effectively applied in settings where datacreation and use is separated. The approach, named LANG,is developed through a Design Science approach on the basisof semiotics theory and data quality dimensions. LANG isempirically validated in terms of soundness of the approach,its repeatability and generalizability

Knowledge representation within information systems in manufacturing environments

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Representing knowledge as information content alone is insufficient in providing us with an understanding of the world around us. A combination of context as well as reasoning of the information content is fundamental to representing knowledge in an information system. Knowledge Representation is typically concerned with providing structures and theories that are used as a basis for intelligent reasoning. For this research however, the author defines an alternative meaning, which is related to how knowledge is used in a given context. Thus, this dissertation provides a contribution to the field of knowledge within information systems, in terms of the development of a frame-of-reference that will support the reader in navigating through the different forms of explicit and tacit knowledge use within the manufacturing industry. In doing so, the dissertation also presents the generation of a novel classification of three forms of knowledge (Structural, Interpretive and Evaluative forms); the development of a conceptual framework which highlights the drivers for knowledge transformation; and the development of a conceptual model which seeks to envelop both the content as well as the context of knowledge (Semiotic as well as Symbiotic factors). This is established through the use of an Empirical, Quantitative case study approach, that seeks to explore an interpretivist view of knowledge representation within two information systems contexts, within two UK manufacturing organisations. The first case study presents how a-priori knowledge assumptions are used in a computer aided engineering decision-making task within a high technology manufacturing company. The second case study shows how knowledge is used within the IT/IS investment evaluation decision making process, within a manufacturing SME. In doing so, both case studies attempt to elucidate the inherent, underlying relationship between explicit and tacit knowledge, via a frame-of-reference developed by the author which defines key drivers for knowledge transformation

Towards an understanding of process model quality. Methodological considerations

Quality is one of the main topics in current conceptual modelling research, as is the field of business process modelling. Yet, widely acknowledged academic contributions towards an understanding or measurement of business process model quality are limited at best. In this paper I argue that the development of methodical theories concerning the problem of process model quality must be preceded by methodological elaborations on business process modelling. I further argue that existing epistemological foundations of process modelling are insufficient for describing the extrinsic and intrinsic traits of model quality. Taking into account the inherent social and purpose-oriented character of process modelling in contemporary organizations I present a socio-pragmatic constructionist methodology of business process modelling and sketch out implications of this perspective towards an understanding of process model quality. I anticipate that, based on this research, theories can be developed that facilitate the evaluation of the ’goodness’ of a business process model

Designing Visually Effective and Intuitive Modelling Notations for Security Risk Management

Turvariski juhtimine on toimingute kogum, mille eesmärk on tuvastada ja vähendada turvariske tarkvaraarenduse varastest etappidest alates. Modelleerimisel võivad nii lõppkasutajad kui ka turvaanalüütikud kasutada turvariskidele orienteeritud modelleerimiskeeli. Siiski puudub olemasolevatel keeltel semantiline läbipaistvus, mis tekitab õppimiskõverale täiendavaid takistavaid barjääre ja sügavust. Veelgi enam, hetkel saadaolevad modelleerimiskeeled töötati välja ilma mingit kindlat disaini arvestamata ja nende intuitiivsus on vilets. Kuna modelleerimiskeele oluline tunnusjoon on kognitiivne efektiivsus, keskendub see uuring saadavalolevate turvariskidele orienteeritud modelleerimiskeelte (Secure BPMN, Secure Tropos, Misuse Cases, Mal-activity Diagrams) mõistmise parandamisele. Sellel eesmärgil pakutakse välja ikoonide komplekt, mille võiks integreerida olemasolevatesse modelleerimiskeeltesse. Ikoonide ühtlustatud komplekt suurendaks domeenikohaste kontseptide äratuntavust, mis on toodud infosüsteemide turvariskide juhtimise domeenimudelis, lühendaks õppimiskõverat ning parandaks olemasolevate teadete üldist intuitiivsust. Soovitatav ikoonide komplekt on koostatud mitme empiirilise uuringu põhjal, mis on tehtud kolmes kohas, mis asuvad eri geograafilistes piirkondades ja esindavad erinevaid kultuurilisi taustu. Teadete parandatud kognitiivset efektiivsust, täiendatuna soovitatud ikoonide komplektiga, on kontrollitud hindamisuuringuga, mis näitas olemasolevate teadetega võrreldes paremat mõistmistaset.Security risk management is a set of activities, aimed at identifying and mitigating security risks starting from the early stages of software development. A set of security risk-oriented modelling languages could be used by both end users and security analysts to perform modelling activities. However, existing languages lack semantical transparency, which re-sults in additional grasping barriers and steepness of learning curve. Moreover, presently available modelling languages were developed with no explicit design rationale in mind and perform poorly in terms of effectiveness and intuitiveness. Since the vital characteris-tic of modelling language is cognitive effectiveness, this research is focused on improving visual perception of the available security risk-oriented modelling languages (Secure BPMN, Secure Tropos, Misuse Cases, Mal-activity Diagrams). This goal is fulfilled by proposing a set of icons, which could be incorporated into existing modelling languages. Unified set of icons would enhance the recognizability of domain-specific concepts, out-lined in Information Systems Security Risk Management Domain Model, as well as reduce the learning curve and improve the overall cognitive efficiency of available notations. Pro-posed icon set is composed based on the outcomes of several empirical studies, performed in 3 distinct locations, belonging to various geographical areas and exhibiting a variety of cultural backgrounds. Improved cognitive effectiveness of notations, augmented with pro-posed icon set, is validated by the conducted evaluation study, which demonstrated in-creased level of comprehension as compared with existing notations