An evaluation methodology for ergonomic design of electronic consumer products based on fuzzy axiomatic design

This article is posted with permission of OCP Science imprint. Copyright @ 2008 Old City Publishing Group.The development life cycle of software and electronic products has been shortened by the growth of rapid prototyping techniques. The evaluation of electronic consumer products should consider hardware and software as well as the ergonomic usability, emotional appeal and aesthetic integrity of the design. This research follows a systematic approach to develop an evaluation methodology for electronic mobile products on ergonomic design. The proposed methodology is based on fuzzy multi attribute decision making and fuzzy axiomatic design realized in three steps; determination of ergonomic attributes for electronic consumer products, determination of a representative set of alternatives, and selection of the best alternative in terms of ergonomic design by utilizing fuzzy axiomatic design. A case study is also provided to support the proposed methodology

Layered evaluation of interactive adaptive systems : framework and formative methods

Peer reviewedPostprin

Criterion-referenced measurement: Its main applications, problems and findings

The need for criterion-referenced measurements has mainly arisen from the introduction of instructional programs organized according to modern principles from educational technology. Some of these programs are discussed, and it is indicated for what purposes criterion-referenced measurements are used. Three main problems of criterion-referenced measurement are distinguished: The problem of criterion-referenced scoring and score interpretation, the problem of criterion-referenced item and test analysis, and the problem of mastery testing. For each of these problems a variety of solutions of the paper to provide an overview of these and to introduce the reader to the original literature

Are Newtonian Gravitation and Geometrized Newtonian Gravitation Theoretically Equivalent?

I argue that a criterion of theoretical equivalence due to Clark Glymour [Nous 11(3), 227-251 (1977)] does not capture an important sense in which two theories may be equivalent. I then motivate and state an alternative criterion that does capture the sense of equivalence I have in mind. The principal claim of the paper is that relative to this second criterion, the answer to the question posed in the title is "yes", at least on one natural understanding of Newtonian gravitation.Comment: 27 page

Toward improved calibration of hydrologic models: Combining the strengths of manual and automatic methods

Automatic methods for model calibration seek to take advantage of the speed and power of digital computers, while being objective and relatively easy to implement. However, they do not provide parameter estimates and hydrograph simulations that are considered acceptable by the hydrologists responsible for operational forecasting and have therefore not entered into widespread use. In contrast, the manual approach which has been developed and refined over the years to result in excellent model calibrations is complicated and highly labor-intensive, and the expertise acquired by one individual with a specific model is not easily transferred to another person (or model). In this paper, we propose a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of each. A multicriteria formulation is used to "model" the evaluation techniques and strategies used in manual calibration, and the resulting optimization problem is solved by means of a computerized algorithm. The new approach provides a stronger test of model performance than methods that use a single overall statistic to aggregate model errors over a large range of hydrologic behaviors. The power of the new approach is illustrated by means of a case study using the Sacramento Soil Moisture Accounting model

Issues in the interpretation of the results of school effectiveness research

In this chapter three issues in the interpretation of the results of school effectiveness research are discussed: criterion choice, effect size and stability of effects. With respect to the first issue the overall conclusion is, that criterion choice and definition depend on the effectiveness perspective and the particular theory one wishes to corroborate. The issues of effect size and stability of school effects are treated both from the angle of a synthesis of available empirical results and from the angle of conceptual analysis. An overall evaluation of the available data on effect size and stability leads to the conclusion that school effectiveness models are not as shaky as certain critics would have it, but at the same time not established as firmly as enthusiastic school improvers treat them. Various suggestions as to the improvement of future school effectiveness research are offered, notably more refined research designs and more elaborate theory development

Disclosure measurement in the empirical accounting literature: A review article

This is the first study to provide an extensive and critical review of different techniques used in the empirical accounting literature to measure disclosure. The purpose is to help future researchers to identify exemplars and to select suitable techniques or to develop their own techniques. It also provides in depth discussion of current measurement issues related to disclosure and identifies gaps in the current literature which future research may aim to cover

Paradigms for computational nucleic acid design

The design of DNA and RNA sequences is critical for many endeavors, from DNA nanotechnology, to PCR‐based applications, to DNA hybridization arrays. Results in the literature rely on a wide variety of design criteria adapted to the particular requirements of each application. Using an extensively studied thermodynamic model, we perform a detailed study of several criteria for designing sequences intended to adopt a target secondary structure. We conclude that superior design methods should explicitly implement both a positive design paradigm (optimize affinity for the target structure) and a negative design paradigm (optimize specificity for the target structure). The commonly used approaches of sequence symmetry minimization and minimum free‐energy satisfaction primarily implement negative design and can be strengthened by introducing a positive design component. Surprisingly, our findings hold for a wide range of secondary structures and are robust to modest perturbation of the thermodynamic parameters used for evaluating sequence quality, suggesting the feasibility and ongoing utility of a unified approach to nucleic acid design as parameter sets are refined further. Finally, we observe that designing for thermodynamic stability does not determine folding kinetics, emphasizing the opportunity for extending design criteria to target kinetic features of the energy landscape

Developments in the educational effectiveness research programme

Educational effectiveness as a research programme moved from an input-output paradigm to an input-process-output paradigm and, in view of the fact that so-called contextual school effectiveness is gaining in importance, this might be more properly termed a context-input-process-output-based approach. The aim of this introductory chapter is to put the state of the art of educational effectiveness research into perspective by summarizing the most important developments in output measurement, the identification of relevant input-, process- and contextual conditions and the causal modeling of these categories. Specific consideration is given to the improvement of substantive multi-level models of educational effectiveness and to available theories that could help to reveal the explanatory mechanisms behind these models