Case-based analysis in user requirements modelling for knowledge construction

Context: Learning can be regarded as knowledge construction in which prior knowledge and experience serve as basis for the learners to expand their knowledge base. Such a process of knowledge construction has to take place continuously in order to enhance the learners’ competence in a competitive working environment. As the information consumers, the individual users demand personalised information provision which meets their own specific purposes, goals, and expectations. Objectives: The current methods in requirements engineering are capable of modelling the common user’s behaviour in the domain of knowledge construction. The users’ requirements can be represented as a case in the defined structure which can be reasoned to enable the requirements analysis. Such analysis needs to be enhanced so that personalised information provision can be tackled and modelled. However, there is a lack of suitable modelling methods to achieve this end. This paper presents a new ontological method for capturing individual user’s requirements and transforming the requirements onto personalised information provision specifications. Hence the right information can be provided to the right user for the right purpose. Method: An experiment was conducted based on the qualitative method. A medium size of group of users participated to validate the method and its techniques, i.e. articulates, maps, configures, and learning content. The results were used as the feedback for the improvement. Result: The research work has produced an ontology model with a set of techniques which support the functions for profiling user’s requirements, reasoning requirements patterns, generating workflow from norms, and formulating information provision specifications. Conclusion: The current requirements engineering approaches provide the methodical capability for developing solutions. Our research outcome, i.e. the ontology model with the techniques, can further enhance the RE approaches for modelling the individual user’s needs and discovering the user’s requirements

Some empirical evidence on business-IT alignment processes in the public sector: A case study report

An empirical study that explores business-IT alignment processes in a networked organization among the province Overijssel, the municipalities Zwolle and Enschede, the water board district Regge & Dinkel and Royal Grolsch N.V. in The Netherlands, is summarized in this report. The aim of the study was to identify processes that contribute to improve such alignment. This study represents a continuation of previous validation efforts that help us to confirm the business-IT alignment process areas that should ultimately be included in the ICoNOs MM. Evidence was sought for the alignment of business and IT through the use of information systems to support the requirements of the organization in a specific project. The results of this study in the public sector also are relevant to the private sector where (i) business-IT alignment plays an increasingly valuable role, and (ii) the characteristics of collaborative networked organizations are present

Resilient seed systems for climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in the East Africa sub-region: Report of training workshop, Addis Ababa Ethiopia, 17-21 September 2019

Bioversity International is implementing a Dutch-supported project entitled: Resilient seed systems for climate change adaptation and sustainable livelihoods in the East Africa sub-region. This work aims to boost timely and affordable access to good-quality seed for a portfolio of crops / varieties for millions of women and men farmers’ and their communities across east Africa. A first project training: i) contextualized farmer varietal selection, ii) provided practical demonstrations of tools for climate-change analysis, iii) introduced policy issues associated with managing crop diversity, iv) outlined characterization and evaluation of genetic resources, and v) articulated associated gender issues, and issues related to disseminating elite materials. The training concluded with a contextualizing field trip. In the workshop evaluation, 98% participants declared their overall satisfaction level to be high (74%) or medium (24%), indicating the training furnished them with good ideas for networking and using the tools and methods they learned about

ICoNOs MM: The IT-enabled Collaborative Networked Organizations Maturity Model

The focus of this paper is to introduce a comprehensive model for assessing and improving maturity of business-IT alignment (B-ITa) in collaborative networked organizations (CNOs): the ICoNOs MM. This two dimensional maturity model (MM) addresses five levels of maturity as well as four domains to which these levels apply: partnering structure, information system (IS) architecture, process architecture and coordination. The model can be used to benchmark and support continuous improvement of B-ITa process areas in CNOs

Towards a business-IT alignment maturity model for collaborative networked organizations

Aligning business and IT in networked organizations is a complex endeavor because in such settings, business-IT alignment is driven by economic processes instead of by centralized decision-making processes. In order to facilitate managing business-IT alignment in networked organizations, we need a maturity model that allows collaborating organizations to assess the current state of alignment and take appropriate action to improve it where needed. In this paper we propose the first version of such a model, which we derive from various alignment models and theories

Learning from the past and looking at the future. Closing the evaluation-revision-implementation cycle in an elearning module

This paper will outline the importance of implementing an instructional design model which incorporates a continuous cycle of evaluation, revision and implementation. The context is a case study of a distance learning module which was first presented in 1993 as an introductory module for students taking an Oscail BA programme. As the majority of Oscail students are adults returning to education after a long period of absence from formal education, providing learners with a supportive learning environment which would ease re-entering the educational world has always been one of Oscail’s key goals. Between 1993 and 2002, the Introductory Module was offered in the traditional distance education format and was subject to regular evaluation and revision (Lorenzi, MacKeogh and Fox, 2004; MacKeogh and Lorenzi, 2005). By early 2000, the wider accessibility of technology encouraged Oscail to combine the need to prepare students for university study with the development of e-learning skills. In 2002 the Introductory Module was reconstituted as the SPEL (Student Passport for E-learning) module and was presented for three years. A review of the module in 2006 indicated shortfalls in what is described in the literature as the bolt-on ‘skills approach’ which makes use of ‘a set of atomized skills – removed from subject specific domains’ (Lea & Street, 1998: 158). This prompted a rethink of the overall approach to preparing students for study, and resulted in a decision to adopt an embedded approach to e-skills development. It was hoped that a task-based approach to applying skills to subject specific activities would improve the quality of the learning experience and ultimately result in better retention rates. A review of the implementation of the embedded approach in the first year reveals that while students reported an increase in skills development over the module, and identified a number of positive features, the approach did not succeed in increasing retention. Detailed evaluation including surveys of tutors and students as well as online focus groups have identified a number of factors which militated against the achievement of some of the goals of the module. These included the scheduling of activities, workload, a shorter than usual academic year, insufficient tutor training and student induction, and administrative support. This paper will start with a brief overview of instructional design systems and the models used by Oscail in developing its elearning programmes. We will then outline the way in which through a cycle of implementation, evaluation and revision, the original introductory module evolved into a full year-long module comprising an embedded portfolio of study skills tasks. We will describe the outcomes of the embedded SPEL programme and will outline the evaluation process that has led to further revisions. We will discuss the specific issues that have emerged from the evaluations and will show what measures have been put in place to overcome the difficulties encountered. We will conclude with some observations on the changing roles of stakeholders in the context of new elearning approaches