Improving students' code correctness and test completeness by informal specifications

The quality of software produced by students is often poor. How to teach students to develop good quality software has long been a topic in computer science education and research. We must conclude that we still do not have a good answer to this question. Specifications are necessary to determine the correctness of software, to develop error-free software and to write complete tests. Several attempts have been made to teach students to write specifications before writing code. So far, that has not proven to be very successful: Students do not like to write a specification and do not see the benefits of writing specifications. In this paper we focus on the use of informal specifications. Instead of teaching students how to write specifications, we teach them how to use informal specifications to develop correct software. The results were surprising: the number of errors in software and the completeness of tests both improved considerably and, most importantly, students really appreciate the specifications. We think that if students appreciate specification, we have a key to teach them how to specify and to appreciate its value.Comment: 14 page

Detecting and forecasting business cycle turning points

The R word has begun to appear in the media again bringing with it three technical questions viz, How will we know we are in recession? How will we know when it has ended? And How can we forecast its onset and ending? This paper does not provide answers to these questions rather it focuses on the technical issues that we need to resolve in order to provide good answers to these questions. The paper has three significant findings. First, the business cycle states obtained by the BBQ algorithm are complex statistical processes and it is not possible to write down an exact likelihood function for them. Second, for the classical and acceleration cycles it is possible to obtain a reasonably simple approximation to the BBQ algorithm that may permit one to write down a likelihood function. Third, when evaluating these algorithms there is a large di¤erence between the results using US GDP as compared to UK GDP or simulated data from models fit to US GDP. Specifically, turning points are much easier to detect in US GDP than in other series. One needs to take this into account when using US based research on detecting and forecasting business cycle turning points.Business cycle; turning points; forecasting; peak; trough

Technical Properties of Cochlear Implants

a.) The prompt of this assignment was to create something that can educate or inform a group of people on a certain topic. In this case, my project was to make a cochlear implant model and write a research paper to inform patients and speech-language pathologists/audiologists on the technical properties of cochlear implants and how they work to stimulate an individuals hearing sensation. b.) To create the model for this project I used modeling clay to form and show the different parts of an ear and a cochlear implant. I then painted the model and added labels to show the main aspects that go into allowing an individual to hear. I also did research on the technical properties of these devices, how they are created, how they work, and the surgery to receive the device to write my paper. c.) I made this project fit the purpose and audience by creating the cochlear implant/ear model to point out the major pieces and parts of the device and the auditory system that go into allowing an individual to hear. I feel it is important that patients and speech-language pathologists/audiologists have a good understanding of how these devices work, so I wanted to create my paper in a way that would be informative of this and then create the model to go along with the paper to emphasize the main aspects of this device

Writing a case report for publication

Introduction: Research has become an integral part of all health care practitioners. Finding effective ways of sharing the valuable work that is being done in the clinical setting is essential. A case report is a form of communicating information to other health care practitioners regarding exceptional cases. Aim: This paper aims to describe the importance and role of case reports in the literature and summarise the guidelines for doing a case report. Method: A literature search was conducted in Pubmed and Medline using terms such as case reports, publishing, and guidelines to determine successful literature that highlights how to write a case report. Case reports will contribute to the body of evidence needed for professions and could stimulate debate around controversial issues. A summary of the relevant information needed to write a good case report for publication based on the literature is summarised in order to facilitate the process for new authors. Conclusion: Case reports if written in a scientific manner, can make a valuable contribution to research

How a Research Article Intruduction Structured? the Analysis of Swales Model (Cars) on English Research Article Introductions

Research article has been regarded as the most valuable tool in spreading and disseminating research findings around the globe. Knowledge and new information are easily obtained through research articles. However, writing a research article is not easy. Several requirements need to be fulfilled in order to be accepted by the publisher. The weakness of research articles that make those are rejected by the publisher is believed because the papers lack of establishing a territory of the topic discussed and showing the publisher that the paper proposed is worthy enough to be accepted. The essential part of the article is not announced clearly, the gaps that other articles or pervious researches fail to address are not filled. Thus, the article is merely announcing the description of the research but it is not worth to be published in a good journal. One of ways to solve the problem is by writing a good introduction. The most prominent part of a research article is the introduction where the author shows the core point of his research article deserves publishers\u27 attention. The well known and accepted model of article introduction structure is Swales model know as CARS (Create a Research Space). This model has been believed as a typical way a research article introduction structured around the globe. Therefore, this study tried to portray the way how a research article introduction written based on the common convention of good article introduction. The procedure of how the article introduction structured based on Swales Model is pictured. And some English research article introductions written is analyzed to show the organization of Swales model research article introduction. It is hoped that this study can provide a solution for writers especially novice writers to write a good research article introduction

Authors' perceptions of peer review of conference papers and how they characterise a 'good' one

This paper examines the individual's experience of the peer review process to explore implications for the wider engineering education research community. A thematic analysis of interview transcripts showed that providing feedback to authors in reviews was mentioned equally as frequently as the role of quality assurance of the conference papers. We used responses from participants from various levels of expertise and types of universities to identify what were for them the elements of a quality conference paper and a quality review. For a conference paper these included that it should be relevant, situate itself relative to existing literature, state the purpose of the research, describe sound methodology used with a logically developed argument, have conclusions supported by evidence and use language of a professional standard. A quality review should start on a positive note, suggest additional literature, critique the methodology and written expression and unambiguously explain what the reviewer means. The lists of characteristics of a good paper and a good review share elements such as attention to relevant literature and methodology. There is also substantial overlap between how our participants characterise quality papers and reviews and the review criteria used for the AAEE conference, and for such publication outlets as the European Journal for Engineering Education (EJEE) and the Journal of Engineering Education (JEE). This suggests some level of agreement in the community about the elements that indicate quality. However, we need to continue discussions about what we mean by 'sound' methodology and 'good' evidence as well as establishing some shared language and understanding of the standards required in regard to the review criteria. The results of this study represent the first steps in improving our shared understandings of what constitutes quality research in engineering education for our community, and how we might better convey that in offering constructive advice to authors when writing a review of a conference paper. Since the peer review process has implications for the development of individual researchers in the field and hence for the field overall, it seems reasonable to ask reviewers to pay attention to how they write reviews so that they create the potential for engineering academics to successfully transition into this different research paradigm

Empowering EFL Teachers for Scientific Writing in PPG Workshop: Writing Classroom Action Research Proposal

The aims of this paper are (1) to Enhance EFL teachers’ professional competence and skill in writing scientific papers of research results; (2) to produce scientific articles of  EFL teachers’ investigation (minimally produce an action research proposal). This workshop was given to Pendidikan Profesi Guru - PPG (Teacher Professional Education). There were 33 EFL English teachers actively participating in the workshop. The content of the materials was how to discover themes and topics, how to write a proposal of classroom action research (CAR), and how to compose research of CAR, then how to create it into a scientific article. By having these skills, it was expected that they were able to report or write their own CAR and how to create it into a scientific article so that raise their position and prosperity. The PPG workshop for CAR took 10 hours and at the end of the workshop, the participants (the EFL teachers) are obliged to submit a classroom action research. After evaluating each CAR proposal project submitted by the EFL teachers, almost all of them wrote the CAR proposal well. But, in certain components, not all participants’ CAR proposals were categorized good, as well as the bibliography and language components, for bibliography, the participants must include a minimum of 17 to 20 reference lists derived from books and journals which cited as references in the body of the proposal. There were 45.45% of participants who listed 17 references and 45.45% of participants listed 20 references, and the remaining 9.9% included less than 17 references. For language, all participants used Indonesian, their reasoning was to make them easier to express thoughts and ideas in the proposal. It was also found that 87,87% of EFL teachers stated that they were able to identify the research problems, themes, and topics well. While there were 66,66% of EFL teachers described that they were able to decide CAR design, theory, quote, and paraphrase experts’ ideas well and 90,90% of them stated 17 to  20 titles of references

Please don't aim for a highly cited paper

Citation-based metrics are important in determining careers, so it is unsurprising that recent publications advise prospective authors on how to write highly cited papers. While such publications offer excellent advice on structuring and presenting manuscripts, there are significant downsides, including: restrictions in the topics researched, incentives to misconduct and possible detriments to motivation, innovation and collegiality. Guides to writing highly cited papers also assume that all citations are equal, ignoring new directions in bibliometric research identifying ‘quality’ and perfunctory citations. Rather than pursuing citations, with the uncertainty about their significance and the potential negative consequences, authors may fare better by following evidence from several disciplines indicating that persistence, a focused research program, good methodology and publishing in relevant journals are more important in career development and disciplinary influence than the odd star paper. Research administrators could encourage such steps by considering innovative new multivariate assessments of research productivity, including assessing social impact

ANALISIS KEMAMPUAN MENULIS KARYA ILMIAH DI KALANGAN MAHASISWA

Writing in tertiary institutions requires requirements both in terms of language, content and writing techniques, because tertiary institutions as an institution that will produce intellectuals, carry out writing activities as an integrated part of the entire teaching and learning process. Having knowledge about the material to be written, related to the above statement, this study discusses the ability to write scientific papers for students who have completed the combined course of writing scientific papers. The purpose of this research is to: (1) measure how students 'ability to write paper scientific papers, (2) students' ability to develop content, (3) students 'ability to organize paper scientific papers, (4) students' ability to determine vocabulary and good terms and right, (5) ability to sort and use appropriate language. This research was carried out using the qualitative descriptive method of population in this study. All 2016 a2 students in the Indonesian language study program who had finished joining the alloy course wrote scientific papers, because the population was too much to take samples randomly from the class so that there were 15 samples to study. . The results of the study were obtained from the results of observations of several papers that have been done by students, (1) from the content aspect the ability to write papers students get the highest score = 30, while the lowest score is 18, and the average score = 25.30. (2) from the organizational organizing aspect to the paper made the highest score = 15, and the lowest score = 13, and the average score 12.10. (3) from the vocabulary aspect and the term ability of students to get the highest score = 15, while the lowest score = 12, and the average = 12.40. (4) from the aspect of language use in a paper made by a student the highest score = 15, and the lowest score = 10, and the average = 13.10. (5) from the spelling and technical aspects of writing scientific papers the students made the highest score = 7, while the lowest score = 6, and the average = 6.10