11,836 research outputs found

    Technical Dimensions of Programming Systems

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    Programming requires much more than just writing code in a programming language. It is usually done in the context of a stateful environment, by interacting with a system through a graphical user interface. Yet, this wide space of possibilities lacks a common structure for navigation. Work on programming systems fails to form a coherent body of research, making it hard to improve on past work and advance the state of the art. In computer science, much has been said and done to allow comparison of programming languages, yet no similar theory exists for programming systems; we believe that programming systems deserve a theory too. We present a framework of technical dimensions which capture the underlying characteristics of programming systems and provide a means for conceptualizing and comparing them. We identify technical dimensions by examining past influential programming systems and reviewing their design principles, technical capabilities, and styles of user interaction. Technical dimensions capture characteristics that may be studied, compared and advanced independently. This makes it possible to talk about programming systems in a way that can be shared and constructively debated rather than relying solely on personal impressions. Our framework is derived using a qualitative analysis of past programming systems. We outline two concrete ways of using our framework. First, we show how it can analyze a recently developed novel programming system. Then, we use it to identify an interesting unexplored point in the design space of programming systems. Much research effort focuses on building programming systems that are easier to use, accessible to non-experts, moldable and/or powerful, but such efforts are disconnected. They are informal, guided by the personal vision of their authors and thus are only evaluable and comparable on the basis of individual experience using them. By providing foundations for more systematic research, we can help programming systems researchers to stand, at last, on the shoulders of giants

    Mobile Arts for Peace: Small Grants Evaluation Report

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    The Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP) project is an international study that seeks to provide a comparative approach to peace-building utilising interdisciplinary arts-based practices, working with communities in Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal and Rwanda (see figure 1.1). This research was commissioned by the project lead organisation, the University of Lincoln, and has been delivered by the University of Northampton’s Institute for Social Innovation and Impact (see Appendix A for research biographies). This report focuses on the Small Grants awarded across the four countries, and acts as a follow-up to the Phase One Report that was produced in the winter of 2021. The delivery of the Small Grants projects has taken place over the last 12 months across the above four countries, and this report seeks to demonstrate, through a narrative case-study approach, how the Small Grants work delivered has promoted arts-based peacebuilding and supported community cohesion. The research reported in this document took place between February and October 2022 and focused on the below research aim and four key research questions. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of the MAP Small Grants projects and understand their impact in communities. Specifically: 1. What outputs were delivered through the Small Grants projects? 2. What outcomes for beneficiaries/stakeholders were delivered through the Small Grants projects? 3. What impacts delivered for communities and societies across the four countries were delivered through the Small Grants projects? The report is structured as follows: first, the methodological approach undertaken in the evaluation will be presented; second, the case-studies across the four countries will be presented and discussed, utilising data gathered by the in-country research teams and the arts-based outputs produced; third, the findings will be summarised, with specific recommendations also made for the implications related to the MAP Large Grant evaluation projects and the recently awarded MAP Medium Grant projects. References and Appendices can also be found at the end of the report

    A Design Science Research Approach to Smart and Collaborative Urban Supply Networks

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    Urban supply networks are facing increasing demands and challenges and thus constitute a relevant field for research and practical development. Supply chain management holds enormous potential and relevance for society and everyday life as the flow of goods and information are important economic functions. Being a heterogeneous field, the literature base of supply chain management research is difficult to manage and navigate. Disruptive digital technologies and the implementation of cross-network information analysis and sharing drive the need for new organisational and technological approaches. Practical issues are manifold and include mega trends such as digital transformation, urbanisation, and environmental awareness. A promising approach to solving these problems is the realisation of smart and collaborative supply networks. The growth of artificial intelligence applications in recent years has led to a wide range of applications in a variety of domains. However, the potential of artificial intelligence utilisation in supply chain management has not yet been fully exploited. Similarly, value creation increasingly takes place in networked value creation cycles that have become continuously more collaborative, complex, and dynamic as interactions in business processes involving information technologies have become more intense. Following a design science research approach this cumulative thesis comprises the development and discussion of four artefacts for the analysis and advancement of smart and collaborative urban supply networks. This thesis aims to highlight the potential of artificial intelligence-based supply networks, to advance data-driven inter-organisational collaboration, and to improve last mile supply network sustainability. Based on thorough machine learning and systematic literature reviews, reference and system dynamics modelling, simulation, and qualitative empirical research, the artefacts provide a valuable contribution to research and practice

    Bridging technology and educational psychology: an exploration of individual differences in technology-assisted language learning within an Algerian EFL setting

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    The implementation of technology in language learning and teaching has a great influence onthe teaching and learning process as a whole and its impact on the learners’ psychological state seems of paramount significance, since it could be either an aid or a barrier to students’ academic performance. This thesis therefore explores individual learner differences in technology-assisted language learning (TALL) and when using educational technologies in higher education within an Algerian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) setting. Although I initially intended to investigate the relationship between TALL and certain affective variables mainly motivation, anxiety, self-confidence, and learning styles inside the classroom, the collection and analysis of data shifted my focus to a holistic view of individual learner differences in TALL environments and when using educational technologies within and beyond the classroom. In an attempt to bridge technology and educational psychology, this ethnographic case study considers the nature of the impact of technology integration in language teaching and learning on the psychology of individual language learners inside and outside the classroom. The study considers the reality constructed by participants and reveals multiple and distinctive views about the relationship between the use of educational technologies in higher education and individual learner differences. It took place in a university in the north-west of Algeria and involved 27 main and secondary student and teacher participants. It consisted of focus-group discussions, follow-up discussions, teachers’ interviews, learners’ diaries, observation, and field notes. It was initially conducted within the classroom but gradually expanded to other settings outside the classroom depending on the availability of participants, their actions, and activities. The study indicates that the impact of technology integration in EFL learning on individual learner differences is both complex and dynamic. It is complex in the sense that it is shown in multiple aspects and reflected on the students and their differences. In addition to various positive and different negative influences of different technology uses and the different psychological reactions among students to the same technology scenario, the study reveals the unrecognised different manifestations of similar psychological traits in the same ELT technology scenario. It is also dynamic since it is characterised by constant change according to contextual approaches to and practical realities of technology integration in language teaching and learning in the setting, including discrepancies between students’ attitudes and teacher’ actions, mismatches between technological experiences inside and outside the classroom, local concerns and generalised beliefs about TALL in the context, and the rapid and unplanned shift to online educational delivery during the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The study may therefore be of interest, not only to Algerian teachers and students, but also to academics and institutions in other contexts through considering the complex and dynamic impact of TALL and technology integration at higher education on individual differences, and to academics in similar low-resource contexts by undertaking a context approach to technology integration

    Building body identities - exploring the world of female bodybuilders

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    This thesis explores how female bodybuilders seek to develop and maintain a viable sense of self despite being stigmatized by the gendered foundations of what Erving Goffman (1983) refers to as the 'interaction order'; the unavoidable presentational context in which identities are forged during the course of social life. Placed in the context of an overview of the historical treatment of women's bodies, and a concern with the development of bodybuilding as a specific form of body modification, the research draws upon a unique two year ethnographic study based in the South of England, complemented by interviews with twenty-six female bodybuilders, all of whom live in the U.K. By mapping these extraordinary women's lives, the research illuminates the pivotal spaces and essential lived experiences that make up the female bodybuilder. Whilst the women appear to be embarking on an 'empowering' radical body project for themselves, the consequences of their activity remains culturally ambivalent. This research exposes the 'Janus-faced' nature of female bodybuilding, exploring the ways in which the women negotiate, accommodate and resist pressures to engage in more orthodox and feminine activities and appearances

    Towards a sociology of conspiracy theories: An investigation into conspiratorial thinking on Dönmes

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    This thesis investigates the social and political significance of conspiracy theories, which has been an academically neglected topic despite its historical relevance. The academic literature focuses on the methodology, social significance and political impacts of these theories in a secluded manner and lacks empirical analyses. In response, this research provides a comprehensive theoretical framework for conspiracy theories by considering their methodology, political impacts and social significance in the light of empirical data. Theoretically, the thesis uses Adorno's semi-erudition theory along with Girardian approach. It proposes that conspiracy theories are methodologically semi-erudite narratives, i.e. they are biased in favour of a belief and use reason only to prove it. It suggests that conspiracy theories appear in times of power vacuum and provide semi-erudite cognitive maps that relieve alienation and ontological insecurities of people and groups. In so doing, they enforce social control over their audience due to their essentialist, closed-to-interpretation narratives. In order to verify the theory, the study analyses empirically the social and political significance of conspiracy theories about the Dönme community in Turkey. The analysis comprises interviews with conspiracy theorists, conspiracy theory readers and political parties, alongside a frame analysis of the popular conspiracy theory books on Dönmes. These confirm the theoretical framework by showing that the conspiracy theories are fed by the ontological insecurities of Turkish society. Hence, conspiracy theorists, most readers and some political parties respond to their own ontological insecurities and political frustrations through scapegoating Dönmes. Consequently, this work shows that conspiracy theories are important symptoms of society, which, while relieving ontological insecurities, do not provide politically prolific narratives

    Impact of Perceived Competence and Academic Self efficacy on the Academic Major Satisfaction among University Students

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    The study aims to explore the impact of Perceived Competence and Academic Self efficacy on the Academic Major Satisfaction of university students. The data was collected from university students in Multan using a simple random sampling approach with a sample size of 110 individuals. The data was collected through survey. Three scales were used: Perceived competence Scale (subscale of the BMPN (Sheldon & Hilpert, 2012), Academic Self efficacy Scale (Larson, et al., 1994) and Academic major Satisfaction Scale (AMSS; Nauta, 2007) to find the impact of Perceived competence and Academic Self efficacy on the Academic major satisfaction. Statistical analysis was conducted through SPSS and the results indicated that Perceived competence has positive correlation with academic self- efficacy on academic major satisfaction and a significant impact of Perceived Competence and Academic Self efficacy on the Academic Major Satisfaction of university student’s area of this study was restricted to Multan. There was a time limitation. Future researches can include a large number of participants and also cover large research area for generalize ability. This study is significant in determining the Academic Performance of university students in the social framework of Pakistani society

    Potencialidades do uso de uma rede social na aprendizagem de português por falantes chineses

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    Devido à intensificação da cooperação entre a China e os países lusófonos, a aprendizagem de Português torna-se cada vez mais fundamental na China hoje em dia. Sendo uma língua radicalmente diferente da sua primeira língua, os aprendentes chineses normalmente manifestam um conjunto de dificuldades em certos aspetos, enquanto a diferença cultural e oportunidades limitadas de treinar a língua-alvo fora da sala de aula também dificultam a sua aquisição de Português. Se bem que alguns autores tenham evidenciado a existência de problemas na aprendizagem dos aprendentes chineses, não esclareceram as soluções praticáveis. Em conformidade com as caraterísticas dos estudantes nos dias de hoje, os quais dedicam bastante tempo às redes sociais na sua vida quotidiana, consideramos que a introdução das ferramentas sociais pode ser potencialmente uma abordagem razoável para promover a aprendizagem de Português, o que nos levou a focalizar-nos em estudar o impacte do uso do Weibo, uma plataforma de microblogue de origem chinesa, relativamente às capacidades escritas dos aprendentes chineses. Optámos por aplicar uma triangulação de metodologias para analisar a participação, motivação, publicações, resultados dos dois testes realizados antes e depois das atividades e das entrevistas com os participantes, a fim de obter um entendimento o mais completo possível das potencialidades do Weibo. Três intervenções foram conduzidas com os objetivos, respetivamente, de verificar a possibilidade da criação de uma comunidade de aprendizagem colaborativa mediante a ferramenta selecionada, e identificar a influência da interação entre os aprendentes chineses e portugueses e entre os chineses e a docente nativa em relação às capacidades escritas em Português. De acordo com os resultados atingidos, além de revelarem uma motivação e satisfação relativamente positivas, os aprendentes participantes geralmente demonstram um melhor comportamento a respeito da concordância verbal e da morfologia das palavras, e alguns deles também manifestam um progresso evidente nos aspetos do uso dos tempos e modos verbais e da concordância nominal de número. Já os participantes da última intervenção obtêm uma pontuação mais elevada na compreensão escrita do que os não participantes de modo geral, revelando as potencialidades e eficiência da aplicação do Weibo na aprendizagem de Português por falantes chineses. Consideramos que a introdução desta rede social com estratégia de aprendizagem pode proporcionar influências positivas, conduzindo à proposta de realização de estudos mais aprofundados e de uma aplicação mais aturada na prática didática do Português Língua nãoMaterna numa futura etapa de investigação.Due to the intensification of cooperation between China and the Lusophone nations, nowadays learning Portuguese is becoming increasingly fundamental in China. As a language which is radically different from their first language, Chinese learners usually manifest a number of difficulties in certain aspects while the cultural difference and limited opportunities to practice the target language outside the classroom also complicate their acquisition of Portuguese. Although some authors have evidenced the existence of problems in Chinese learners’ learning, they have not clarified practical solutions. In accordance with the characteristics of today’s students, who spend a lot of time on social media in their daily lives, we believe that the introduction of social tools can potentially be a reasonable approach to promote the learning of Portuguese. We focus on investigating the impact of using Weibo, a Chinese microblogging platform, on the writing skills of Chinese learners. We chose to apply a triangulation of methodologies to analyze the participation, motivation, posts, results of the two tests carried out before and after the activities and interviews with participants in order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the potential of Weibo. Three interventions were conducted with the objectives of verifying the possibility of creating a collaborative learning community by using the selected tool and identifying the influence of the interaction between Chinese and Portuguese learners and between Chinese learners and a native teacher in relation to Portuguese writing skills. According to the results achieved, besides revealing a relatively positive motivation and satisfaction, participants generally demonstrate better behavior regarding verbal agreement and spelling and some of them also manifest an evident progress in using verb tenses and modes and nominal number agreement, while the participants of the last intervention score generally higher on reading comprehension than non-participants. These results highlight the possibility and efficiency of applying Weibo with Chinese speakers who are learning Portuguese. We believe that the introduction of a social network with an appropriate strategy can bring positive influences and it is worthy of further research and structured application in teaching practice as a future step.Programa Doutoral em Multimédia em Educaçã
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