3,382 research outputs found
A systematic mapping study of crunch time in video game development
Abstract. Crunch time means heavy overtime work, which usually happens before deadlines when development is behind schedule. It is common in game development and causes stress and social harm to developers. The purpose of this thesis was to study how crunch time is discussed in scientific literature by finding the trends and gaps using a systematic mapping study research method.
The main research question was: How is crunch time in video game development discussed in scientific literature? Three assisting research questions were used to help with answering the main research question: How are the causes for crunch time in video game development discussed in the literature? How are the effects for crunch time in video game development discussed in the literature? How are the solutions for crunch time in video game development discussed in the literature?
A search string was defined along with inclusion and exclusion criteria in a way that the resulting papers could best be used to answer the research questions. A total of 36 relevant, primary studies were included for this study after conducting the search on Google Scholar and applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The papers were categorised based on their contributions to the causes, effects and solutions related to crunch time. These papers were used as the source material for this research.
It was found that the number of studies is increasing and the most common contribution of these studies is presenting the causes of crunch time. The most common causes presented were cultural, planning and process, and structural causes. Health and social effects were the most common effects. Process changes and no-crunch policies were the most common types of solutions to crunch time.
The main contribution of this study was presenting an overview of how crunch time is discussed in scientific literature. It can be used by researchers to determine what kind of research might be necessary. The study could also be useful for game developers and managers in deciding what actions to take to avoid crunch time.
This study found that there are gaps in the literature regarding solutions to crunch time, but often the causes seem to imply solutions. This study suggested that more research into feature creep and structural changes to the game development companies could be useful for learning how to reduce crunch time
Panorama November 2019
This print edition of Panorama features an article on improvements scheduled for McKee Library and Wright Hall.https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/parent_newsletter/1067/thumbnail.jp
The Scientist, Winter 2009
https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/scientist/1003/thumbnail.jp
Being a manager in an English nursery
This article draws on interviews with 29 managers and deputy managers within 15 nurseries in the private sector in England. The author argues that, whilst there is a growing literature on management and professionalism within the Early Years (EY) sector, there is less known about the actual experiences of being a manager in this context. Many of the individuals who are promoted into a management role did not, until recently, have the training to support them. Whilst individuals are being encouraged to participate in the managerial roles now demanded by the professionalisation agenda, it could be argued that the traditional EY workforce are primarily motivated by a strong desire to work with children. Even if their own employer provides in-house management training or the opportunity to participate in national schemes such as EYPS, these young women, like many professionals becoming managers, move away from what they like doing best – working with the client/children. The research outlined in this paper explores these issues by relaying individuals’ stories of what it is like to be a manager in the EY context
Metamorphosis: Transforming Non-designers into Designers
In this paper we make the case that there is today a growing number of educational settings experiencing challenges when it comes to transforming non-designers into designers, and in particular, interaction designers. We see this development as a consequence of an increased awareness and recognition of what broadly could be labeled as a design perspective. We examine the transformational process, the metamorphosis, by which non-designer students become interaction designers. We identify and describe the barriers that make it difficult for the students to move through this transformational process. We also propose some pedagogical approaches that can reduce the barriers and improve the possibility for the transformation to occur. The approach that we have developed and describe consists of three parts. Based on a fundamental understanding of the nature of design, we have developed (i) a tentative transformational model of how non-designers become interaction designers; (ii) a special kind of conceptual framework used to support students in the transformational process; and (iii) design assignments based on real-world design problems. We end the paper with two conclusions. First we argue that there is a challenge in transforming non-designers into designers, but that it is possible if the educational effort is based on an understanding of design and on the transformational process with its barriers. Finally we argue that the experience of trying to turn non-designers into interaction designers is in itself a valuable research approach. Dealing with non-designer students reveals deep insights about the nature of the design process and makes it possible to better formulate what constitutes a designerly approach.
Keywords
Design, Design education, Pedagogy, HCI</p
Making Lab Sessions Mandatory -- On Student Work Distribution in a Gamified Project Course on Market-Driven Software Engineering
Unfair work distribution in student teams is a common issue in project-based
learning. One contributing factor is that students are differently skilled
developers. In a course with group work intertwining engineering and business
aspects, we designed an intervention to help novice programmers, i.e., we
introduced mandatory programming lab sessions. However, the intervention did
not affect the work distribution, showing that more is needed to balance the
workload. Contrary to our goal, the intervention was very well received among
experienced students, but unpopular with students weak at programming.Comment: To appear in the Proc. of the 32nd International Conference on
Software Engineering Education and Training (CSEE&T
Humans, robots and values
The issue of machines replacing humans dates back to
the dawn of industrialisation. In this paper we examine what is
fundamental in the distinction between human and
robotic work by reflecting on the work of the classical political economists and engineers. We examine the
relationship between the ideas of machine work and
human work on the part of Marx and Watt as well as their role
in the creation of economic value. We examine the
extent to which artificial power sources could feasibly
substitute for human effort in their arguments.
We go on to examine the differing views of Smith and
Marx with respect to the economic effort contributed
by animals and consider whether the philosophical
distinction made between human and non-human work
can be sustained in the light of modern biological
research. We emphasise the non-universal
character of animal work before going on to discuss
the ideas of universal machines in Capek and Turing giving as a counter example a cloth-folding
robot being developed in our School.
We then return to Watt and discuss the development
of thermodynamics and information theory. We show
how recent research has led to a unification not
only of these fields but also a unitary understanding
of the labour process and the value-creation process.
We look at the implications of general robotisation for profitability and the future
of capitalism. For this we draw on the work of
von Neumann not only on computers but also in
economics to point to the {\em real} threat posed
by robots
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