Female Under-Representation in Computing Education and Industry - A Survey of Issues and Interventions

This survey paper examines the issue of female under-representation in computing education and industry, which has been shown from empirical studies to be a problem for over two decades. While various measures and intervention strategies have been implemented to increase the interest of girls in computing education and industry, the level of success has been discouraging. The primary contribution of this paper is to provide an analysis of the extensive research work in this area. It outlines the progressive decline in female representation in computing education. It also presents the key arguments that attempt to explain the decline and intervention strategies. We conclude that there is a need to further explore strategies that will encourage young female learners to interact more with computer educational games

Connectivism: Its place in theory-informed research and innovation in technology-enabled learning

The sociotechnical context for learning and education is dynamic and makes great demands on those trying to seize the opportunities presented by emerging technologies. The goal of this paper is to explore certain theories for our plans and actions in technology-enabled learning. Although presented as a successor to previous learning theories, connectivism alone is insufficient to inform learning and its support by technology in an internetworked world. However, because of its presence in massive open online courses (MOOCs), connectivism is influential in the practice of those who take these courses and who wish to apply it in teaching and learning. Thus connectivism is perceived as relevant by its practitioners but as lacking in rigour by its critics. Five scenarios of change are presented with frameworks of different theories to explore the variety of approaches educators can take in the contexts for change and their associated research/evaluation. I argue that the choice of which theories to use depends on the scope and purposes of the intervention, the funding available to resource the research/evaluation, and the experience and philosophical stances of the researchers/practitioners

Reuse Mechanisms and Concurrency: From Actors to Agent-Oriented Programming

La presente tesi è dedicata al riuso nel software. Eccettuata un'introduzione organica al tema, l'analisi è a livello dei meccanismi offerti dai linguaggi di programmazione e delle tecniche di sviluppo, con speciale attenzione rivolta al tema della concorrenza. Il primo capitolo fornisce un quadro generale nel quale il riuso del software è descritto, assieme alle ragioni che ne determinano l'importanza e ai punti cruciali relativi alla sua attuazione. Si individuano diversi livelli di riuso sulla base dell'astrazione e degli artefatti in gioco, e si sottolinea come i linguaggi contribuiscano alla riusabilità e alla realizzazione del riuso. In seguito, viene esplorato, con esempi di codice, il supporto al riuso da parte del paradigma ad oggetti, in termini di incapsulamento, ereditarietà, polimorfismo, composizione. La trattazione prosegue analizzando differenti feature – tipizzazione, interfacce, mixin, generics – offerte da vari linguaggi di programmazione, mostrando come esse intervengano sulla riusabilità dei componenti software. A chiudere il capitolo, qualche parola contestualizzata sull'inversione di controllo, la programmazione orientata agli aspetti, e il meccanismo della delega. Il secondo capitolo abbraccia il tema della concorrenza. Dopo aver introdotto l'argomento, vengono approfonditi alcuni significativi modelli di concorrenza: programmazione multi-threaded, task nel linguaggio Ada, SCOOP, modello ad Attori. Essi vengono descritti negli elementi fondamentali e ne vengono evidenziati gli aspetti cruciali in termini di contributo al riuso, con esempi di codice. Relativamente al modello ad Attori, viene presentata la sua implementazione in Scala/Akka come caso studio. Infine, viene esaminato il problema dell'inheritance anomaly, sulla base di esempi e delle tre classi principali di anomalia, e si analizza la suscettibilità del supporto di concorrenza di Scala/Akka a riscontrare tali problemi. Inoltre, in questo capitolo si nota come alcuni aspetti relativi al binomio riuso/concorrenza, tra cui il significato profondo dello stesso, non siano ancora stati adeguatamente affrontati dalla comunità informatica. Il terzo e ultimo capitolo esordisce con una panoramica dell'agent-oriented programming, prendendo il linguaggio simpAL come riferimento. In seguito, si prova ad estendere al caso degli agenti la nozione di riuso approfondita nei capitoli precedenti

A hermeneutic inquiry into user-created personas in different Namibian locales

Persona is a tool broadly used in technology design to support communicational interactions between designers and users. Different Persona types and methods have evolved mostly in the Global North, and been partially deployed in the Global South every so often in its original User-Centred Design methodology. We postulate persona conceptualizations are expected to differ across cultures. We demonstrate this with an exploratory-case study on user-created persona co-designed with four Namibian ethnic groups: ovaHerero, Ovambo, ovaHimba and Khoisan. We follow a hermeneutic inquiry approach to discern cultural nuances from diverse human conducts. Findings reveal diverse self-representations whereby for each ethnic group results emerge in unalike fashions, viewpoints, recounts and storylines. This paper ultimately argues User-Created Persona as a potentially valid approach for pursuing cross-cultural depictions of personas that communicate cultural features and user experiences paramount to designing acceptable and gratifying technologies in dissimilar locales

Conceptual Framework for Modeling Dynamic Complexities in Produced Water Management

This research addresses a gap in the produced water management (PWM) literature by providing a conceptual framework to describe the connections of PWM to regional water budgets. We use southeastern New Mexico as a case study, because the region is facing looming shortfalls in water availability, and oil and gas production generate high volumes of produced water in the region. The framework was developed through expert interviews, analysis of industry data, and information gained at industry meetings; it is supported by detailed descriptions of material flows, information flows, and PWM decisions. Produced water management decisions may be connected to regional water budgets through dynamic complexities; however, modeling efforts exploring PWM often do not capture this complexity. Instead, PWM is most often based on the least expensive management and disposal alternatives, without considering short and long-term impacts to the regional water budget. On the other hand, regional water budgets do not include treated produced water as a potential resource, thus missing opportunities for exploring the impact of potential beneficial reuse. This is particularly important when there is a need to address water shortages in chronically water-short regions of the United States. At the same time, oil and gas production in the western United States is challenged by the need to dispose of large volumes of produced water. The framework is useful for developing improved models of PWM to identify the impact of alternative management decisions on regional water budgets.publishedVersio

On how technology-powered storytelling can contribute to cultural heritage sustainability across multiple venues-Evidence from the crosscult H2020 project

Sustainability in Cultural Heritage (CH) is a complex question that needs to be addressed by a group of experts tackling the different issues. In this light, the present work wishes to provide a multi-level analysis of the sustainability in CH, using as an example a recent European H2020 project (CrossCult) and the lessons learnt from its design, implementation and evaluation. The sustainability of CH has qualitatively changed over the last few years, under the developments in digital technology that seems to affect the very nature of the cultural experience. We discuss sustainability in venues using digital technologies, covering a span of needs of small/unknown and large/popular venues, which try to enhance the visitor experience, attract visitors, form venue networks, etc. Moreover, we explore issues of sustainability of digital content and its re usability through holistic design. Aspects of technology, human networks and data sustainability are also presented, and we conclude with the arguments concerning the sustainability of visitor reflection, the interpretation of social and historical phenomena and the creation of meaning.This research was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 693150. The authors from the University of Vigo got further support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Galician Regional Government under agreement for funding the AtlantTIC Research Center for Information and Communication Technologies, as well as the Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (Gobierno de España) research project TIN2017-87604-R

A systems approach to conduct an effective literature review in support of information systems research

This paper introduces a framework for conducting and writing an effective literature review. The target audience for the framework includes information systems (IS) doctoral students, novice IS researchers, and other IS researchers who are constantly struggling with the development of an effective literature-based foundation for a proposed research. The proposed framework follows the systematic data processing approach comprised of three major stages: 1) inputs (literature gathering and screening), 2) processing (following Bloom’s Taxonomy), and 3) outputs (writing the literature review). This paper provides the rationale for developing a solid literature review including detailed instructions on how to conduct each stage of the process proposed. The paper concludes by providing arguments for the value of an effective literature review to IS research

Design Ltd.: Renovated Myths for the Development of Socially Embedded Technologies

This paper argues that traditional and mainstream mythologies, which have been continually told within the Information Technology domain among designers and advocators of conceptual modelling since the 1960s in different fields of computing sciences, could now be renovated or substituted in the mould of more recent discourses about performativity, complexity and end-user creativity that have been constructed across different fields in the meanwhile. In the paper, it is submitted that these discourses could motivate IT professionals in undertaking alternative approaches toward the co-construction of socio-technical systems, i.e., social settings where humans cooperate to reach common goals by means of mediating computational tools. The authors advocate further discussion about and consolidation of some concepts in design research, design practice and more generally Information Technology (IT) development, like those of: task-artifact entanglement, universatility (sic) of End-User Development (EUD) environments, bricolant/bricoleur end-user, logic of bricolage, maieuta-designers (sic), and laissez-faire method to socio-technical construction. Points backing these and similar concepts are made to promote further discussion on the need to rethink the main assumptions underlying IT design and development some fifty years later the coming of age of software and modern IT in the organizational domain.Comment: This is the peer-unreviewed of a manuscript that is to appear in D. Randall, K. Schmidt, & V. Wulf (Eds.), Designing Socially Embedded Technologies: A European Challenge (2013, forthcoming) with the title "Building Socially Embedded Technologies: Implications on Design" within an EUSSET editorial initiative (www.eusset.eu/

Menstrual Hygiene Management in Schools in South Asia: Synthesis Report

There is increasing recognition that menstrual hygiene management (MHM) is a multi-sectoral issue that requires integrated action, particularly from the education, health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sectors.Numerous studies have shown that the lack of MHM-friendly facilities and support for schoolgirls and female teachers is a barrier to their full participation in school and thus to quality education.The South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) and WASH in Schools International Learning Exchange (WinS-ILE) platforms have played a significant role in mobilising action on this critical issue. UNICEF and WaterAid are among the organisations that have incorporated menstrual hygiene (MH) and MHM into WinS programmes in order to help girls and women overcome stigma and marginalisation.These reports detail the status of MHM in schools in South Asia. They identify progress and gaps in achieving sustainable and inclusive MHM services at scale, and draw together opportunities for further promoting and mainstreaming MHM in schools across South Asia