8,554 research outputs found

    Mental imagery and software visualization in high-performance software development teams

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    This paper considers the relationship between mental imagery and software visualization in professional, high-performance software development. It presents overviews of four empirical studies of professional software developers in high-performing teams: (1) expert programmers' mental imagery, (2) how experts externalize their mental imagery as part of teamwork, (3) experts' use of commercially available visualization software, and (4) what tools experts build themselves, how they use the tools they build for themselves, and why they build tools for themselves. Through this series of studies, the paper provides insight into a relationship between how experts reason about and imagine solutions, and their use of and requirements for external representations and software visualization. In particular, it provides insight into how experts use visualization in reasoning about software design, and how their requirements for the support of design tasks differ from those for the support of other software development tasks. The paper draws on theory from other disciplines to explicate issues in this area, and it discusses implications for future work in this field

    Insights from expert software design practice

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    Software is a designed artifact. In other design disciplines, such as architecture, there is a well-established tradition of design studies which inform not only the discipline itself but also tool design, processes, and collaborative work. The 'challenge' of this paper is to consider software from such a 'design studies' perspective. This paper will present a series of observations from empirical studies of expert software designers, and will draw on examples from actual professional practice. It will consider what experts' mental imagery, software visualisations, and sketches suggest about software design thinking. It will also discuss some of the deliberate practices experts use to promote innovation. Finally, it will open discussion on the tensions between observed software design practices and received methodology in software engineering

    Proceedings of the Second Program Visualization Workshop, 2002

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    The Program Visualization Workshops aim to bring together researchers who design and construct program visualizations and, above all, educators who use and evaluate visualizations in their teaching. The first workshop took place in July 2000 at Porvoo, Finland. The second workshop was held in cooperation with ACM SIGCSE and took place at HornstrupCentret, Denmark in June 2002, immediately following the ITiCSE 2002 Conference in Aarhus, Denmark

    Accelerated Learning Techniques for Adults: An Instructional Design Concept for the Next Decade

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    This paper focuses on accelerated learning for the adult student as a process and a specific model of techniques. The model focuses on the whole student including the emotional and intellect aspects of learning. Specific techniques are illustrated to incorporate a variety of accelerated teaching methods used to stimulate sight, sound, and hands-on learning. Preparation and delivery methods focus on use of association with the whole brain learning process. Traditional note taking is contracted with the new method of mind maps. Music for accelerated learning is illustrated. The pygmillian effect is incorporated with team work which is the most important new skill. Guided imagery as a instructional method is presented to combine words and images in the learning process

    The Relationship of Human Psychological Characteristics with Athletic Performance

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    The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a literature review summary on the topic of the relationship of human psychological characteristics with athletic performance. Two research questions guided its development: (1) Is there any evidence that there is a relationship between individual human psychological characteristics and athletic performance? (2) If there is any evidence that there is a relationship between individual human psychological characteristics and athletic performance, is there further evidence that those individual characteristics translate in some way into group dynamics or attributes that may similarly influence team performance

    The NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Data Resource Portal: Placing Advanced Technologies in Service to Vulnerable Communities

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    BACKGROUND: Two devastating hurricanes ripped across the Gulf Coast of the United States during 2005. The effects of Hurricane Katrina were especially severe: The human and environmental health impacts on New Orleans, Louisiana, and other Gulf Coast communities will be felt for decades to come. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimates that Katrina’s destruction disrupted the lives of roughly 650,000 Americans. Over 1,300 people died. The projected economic costs for recovery and reconstruction are likely to exceed $125 billion. OBJECTIVES: The NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) Portal aims to provide decision makers with the data, information, and the tools they need to a) monitor human and environmental health impacts of disasters; b) assess and reduce human exposures to contaminants; and c) develop science-based remediation, rebuilding, and repopulation strategies. METHODS: The NIEHS Portal combines advances in geographic information systems (GIS), data mining/integration, and visualization technologies through new forms of grid-based (distributed, web-accessible) cyberinfrastructure. RESULTS: The scale and complexity of the problems presented by Hurricane Katrina made it evident that no stakeholder alone could tackle them and that there is a need for greater collaboration. The NIEHS Portal provides a collaboration-enabling, information-laden base necessary to respond to environmental health concerns in the Gulf Coast region while advancing integrative multidisciplinary research. CONCLUSIONS: The NIEHS Portal is poised to serve as a national resource to track environmental hazards following natural and man-made disasters, focus medical and environmental response and recovery resources in areas of greatest need, and function as a test bed for technologies that will help advance environmental health sciences research into the modern scientific and computing era

    Asynchronous Visualization of Spatiotemporal Information for Multiple Moving Targets

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    In the modern information age, the quantity and complexity of spatiotemporal data is increasing both rapidly and continuously. Sensor systems with multiple feeds that gather multidimensional spatiotemporal data will result in information clusters and overload, as well as a high cognitive load for users of these systems. To meet future safety-critical situations and enhance time-critical decision-making missions in dynamic environments, and to support the easy and effective managing, browsing, and searching of spatiotemporal data in a dynamic environment, we propose an asynchronous, scalable, and comprehensive spatiotemporal data organization, display, and interaction method that allows operators to navigate through spatiotemporal information rather than through the environments being examined, and to maintain all necessary global and local situation awareness. To empirically prove the viability of our approach, we developed the Event-Lens system, which generates asynchronous prioritized images to provide the operator with a manageable, comprehensive view of the information that is collected by multiple sensors. The user study and interaction mode experiments were designed and conducted. The Event-Lens system was discovered to have a consistent advantage in multiple moving-target marking-task performance measures. It was also found that participants’ attentional control, spatial ability, and action video gaming experience affected their overall performance

    Annual Report, 2015-2016

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    The effects of 3-dimensional CADD modeling software on the development of the spatial ability of ninth grade technology discovery students

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    The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine if there is a difference in the development of spatial abilities of ninth grade Technology Discovery students in Mississippi as measured by the Purdue Visualization of Rotations Test. Students experienced one of three differing instructional methods utilizing Pro/DesktopÂź 3-D CADD solid modeling software. Participants were students in Mississippi schools operating on a 4 x 4 block schedule during either fall or spring semesters during the 2005-2006 school year, and a control group of students whose schools did not offer CADD. Instructional material designed by the researcher was used for two instructional treatment methods, with existing instructional materials available for the software were used in the third instructional method. Demographic information was collected for students from 14 schools in the study. The primary research question asked if differences existed by instructional treatment method when spatial ability pretest scores, gender, ethnicity, co-registration in art, and co-registration in geometry were controlled. Analysis of Covariance was conducted to analyze the data for this research question, using the pretest as the covariate and instructional method as the fixed factor. The dependent variable was the posttest score. The other independent variables of gender, ethnicity, and co-enrollment in art and/or geometry were included in analysis. No affects concerning these additional variables was found. A statistically significant difference existed concerning the method used to instruct students on the use of 3-D CADD modeling software. The instructional consisting of method of teacher-lead instruction using the software in a design lesson, followed by student-directed modular instruction, was found to be effective. These lessons included 3-D physical models manipulated by the teacher and students. The group of students taught using this method had higher mean posttest scores than students instructed with other methods. The other instructional methods did not significantly affect student achievement on the test of spatial ability

    Visualization of Guidelines on Computer Networks to Support Processes of Design and Quality Control

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    Industrial companies supply products intended to satisfy customers’ needs and requirements. To be competitive and to maintain good economic performance, efficient systems are needed to communicate information and exchange knowledge. Such systems are often referred to as quality systems as they intend to support development as well as standardized work regarding the quality of the product and increase satisfaction of the company’s customers and other stakeholders (employees, owners, sub-suppliers, society). Many companies try to structure and improve their quality systems by applying the international quality standard ISO 9000, which can result in extensive documentation. The guidelines and instructions of quality management systems are traditionally documented and presented as paper documents, alternatively on an intranet (a company’s internal computer network) suitable for printouts. These however, do not correspond to some company’s requirements for usability in daily work and as support to interest and engage the personnel in development work. An assumption was that visualizing guidelines using different kinds of multimedia technologies such as hyperlinked and animated pictorial illustrations might be relevant to support quality control and design processes in industrial companies. Two objectives were set up: The first was to explore how the usability of guidelines could be improved by changing the interface design of the guidelines; The second was to explore how the visualization process of guidelines could support participative design by applying evaluations and interpretations in a dialogue form between two individuals or among a group of individuals. The methodology that has been used to generate research questions as well as methods is based on theories of action research and experiential learning. Various methods have been used and combined in order to collect information and to ensure the reliability of the findings based on it. Three industrial companies participated in a first case study. They had conventional quality systems, which they wanted to replace or improve. The companies set up design teams to establish principles for visualizations of their quality systems on their intranets. Cooperating with the author, the design teams created and evaluated computer supported prototypes. These prototypes were made available via the Internet and discussed within each design team. The teams exchanged ideas and comments to enhance their prototypes. The results showed that a quality system should be visualized by an overview of the physical production plant. Information about different processes and instructions are represented by hyperlinked symbols within or next to the plant layout. A second field study aimed to clarify how industrial companies with certified quality systems according to ISO 9001 visualized their guidelines and instructions of construction, production, and installation. The quality manager at each company evaluated the existing system and explained their needs of developing the system by means of computer supported visualization on their intranet. The information was collected through telephone interviews and on site visits. The results showed that the companies would like to improve the visualization of information by decreasing text and increasing pictorial descriptions, such as flowcharts and animations. They also experienced that a quality system on the companies’ intranets was or should be an enhancement in order to disseminate and update the information. A third case study performed in collaboration with Saab Automobile showed results that corresponded with the other studies. The company wanted to replace their conventional information system of ergonomic design guidelines for cars, and design a new system based on interactivity and multimedia. The results showed that a pictorial overview of the car with different areas hyperlinked to further information was preferred. The specific information in the ergonomic guidelines was illustrated with icons, pictures, animations, and some text. In a comparison with the conventional system, subjects performed working tasks faster and with a more positive attitude in the new system. A fourth case study was performed within the GM company group, which showed the need of a formalized working process throughout work with human simulation tools as well as possibilities to document the information generated. A human simulation system prototype was modeled in collaboration with the companies and was presented on an intranet. The results indicated a great potential to enhance the communication within and between the companies, increased accessibility to knowledge, and increased quality on performed work. To summarize, the studies in this thesis show a need among industrial companies to visualize guidelines in information and quality systems by means of multimedia and an interactive design process. Such an approach supports knowledge acquisition and communication, and has a potential to ensure high quality in a company’s processes and products. Furthermore, the users’ attitudes tend to become more positive to the information presented compared to a conventional system
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