5,063 research outputs found
BlogForever D5.2: Implementation of Case Studies
This document presents the internal and external testing results for the BlogForever case studies. The evaluation of the BlogForever implementation process is tabulated under the most relevant themes and aspects obtained within the testing processes. The case studies provide relevant feedback for the sustainability of the platform in terms of potential users’ needs and relevant information on the possible long term impact
Blue - A Language for Teaching Object-Oriented Programming
Teaching object-oriented programming has clearly become an important part of computer science education. We agree with many others that the best place to teach it is in the CS1 introductory course. Many problems with this have been reported in the literature. These mainly result from inadequate languages and environments. Blue is a new language and integrated programming environment, currently under development explicitly for object-oriented teaching. We expect clear advantages from the use of Blue for first year teaching compared to using other available languages. This paper describes the design principles on which the language was based and the most important aspects of the language itself
Why is it difficult to implement e-health initiatives? A qualitative study
<b>Background</b> The use of information and communication technologies in healthcare is seen as essential for high quality and cost-effective healthcare. However, implementation of e-health initiatives has often been problematic, with many failing to demonstrate predicted benefits. This study aimed to explore and understand the experiences of implementers - the senior managers and other staff charged with implementing e-health initiatives and their assessment of factors which promote or inhibit the successful implementation, embedding, and integration of e-health initiatives.<p></p>
<b>Methods</b> We used a case study methodology, using semi-structured interviews with implementers for data collection. Case studies were selected to provide a range of healthcare contexts (primary, secondary, community care), e-health initiatives, and degrees of normalization. The initiatives studied were Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) in secondary care, a Community Nurse Information System (CNIS) in community care, and Choose and Book (C&B) across the primary-secondary care interface. Implementers were selected to provide a range of seniority, including chief executive officers, middle managers, and staff with 'on the ground' experience. Interview data were analyzed using a framework derived from Normalization Process Theory (NPT).<p></p>
<b>Results</b> Twenty-three interviews were completed across the three case studies. There were wide differences in experiences of implementation and embedding across these case studies; these differences were well explained by collective action components of NPT. New technology was most likely to 'normalize' where implementers perceived that it had a positive impact on interactions between professionals and patients and between different professional groups, and fit well with the organisational goals and skill sets of existing staff. However, where implementers perceived problems in one or more of these areas, they also perceived a lower level of normalization.<p></p>
<b>Conclusions</b> Implementers had rich understandings of barriers and facilitators to successful implementation of e-health initiatives, and their views should continue to be sought in future research. NPT can be used to explain observed variations in implementation processes, and may be useful in drawing planners' attention to potential problems with a view to addressing them during implementation planning
Visual and Textual Programming Languages: A Systematic Review of the Literature
It is well documented, and has been the topic of much research, that Computer
Science courses tend to have higher than average drop out rates at third level.
This is a problem that needs to be addressed with urgency but also caution. The
required number of Computer Science graduates is growing every year but the
number of graduates is not meeting this demand and one way that this problem
can be alleviated is to encourage students at an early age towards studying
Computer Science courses.
This paper presents a systematic literature review on the role of visual and
textual programming languages when learning to program, particularly as a first
programming language. The approach is systematic, in that a structured search
of electronic resources has been conducted, and the results are presented and
quantitatively analysed. This study will give insight into whether or not the
current approaches to teaching young learners programming are viable, and
examines what we can do to increase the interest and retention of these
students as they progress through their education.Comment: 18 pages (including 2 bibliography pages), 3 figure
Hierarchical and High-Girth QC LDPC Codes
We present a general approach to designing capacity-approaching high-girth
low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes that are friendly to hardware
implementation. Our methodology starts by defining a new class of
"hierarchical" quasi-cyclic (HQC) LDPC codes that generalizes the structure of
quasi-cyclic (QC) LDPC codes. Whereas the parity check matrices of QC LDPC
codes are composed of circulant sub-matrices, those of HQC LDPC codes are
composed of a hierarchy of circulant sub-matrices that are in turn constructed
from circulant sub-matrices, and so on, through some number of levels. We show
how to map any class of codes defined using a protograph into a family of HQC
LDPC codes. Next, we present a girth-maximizing algorithm that optimizes the
degrees of freedom within the family of codes to yield a high-girth HQC LDPC
code. Finally, we discuss how certain characteristics of a code protograph will
lead to inevitable short cycles, and show that these short cycles can be
eliminated using a "squashing" procedure that results in a high-girth QC LDPC
code, although not a hierarchical one. We illustrate our approach with designed
examples of girth-10 QC LDPC codes obtained from protographs of one-sided
spatially-coupled codes.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Information THeor
Introductory programming: a systematic literature review
As computing becomes a mainstream discipline embedded in the school curriculum and acts as an enabler for an increasing range of academic disciplines in higher education, the literature on introductory programming is growing. Although there have been several reviews that focus on specific aspects of introductory programming, there has been no broad overview of the literature exploring recent trends across the breadth of introductory programming.
This paper is the report of an ITiCSE working group that conducted a systematic review in order to gain an overview of the introductory programming literature. Partitioning the literature into papers addressing the student, teaching, the curriculum, and assessment, we explore trends, highlight advances in knowledge over the past 15 years, and indicate possible directions for future research
Mathematical skills in the workplace: final report to the Science Technology and Mathematics Council
Enhancing Practice and Achievement in Introductory Programming With a Robot Olympics
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