Visualizing learning goals with the Quail Model

This paper introduces the Quail Model, a device for the classification and visualization of learning goals. The model is a communication tool that can smoothen the discussion within a course design team, support shared understanding and improve decision-making. Its theoretical background mingles contributions from Instructional Design (Bloom, Gagné, Merrill) with the insights of an author of Philosophy (Lonergan). The paper presents a literature review, the Quail Model and some examples. Reference to a demo application is also provided

Insights from expert software design practice

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

Pregnancy after perinatal loss: A meta-ethnography from a women’s perspective

[Abstract] Objective: This study uses a meta-ethnography to synthesize qualitative research on the experiences of women during pregnancies after one or more perinatal losses. Design: This interpretive meta-ethnography followed the Noblit and Hare approach and the eMERGe Meta-ethnography Reporting Guidance. Manual searches and a comprehensive systematic search were conducted in Pubmed, Scopus, Cinahl, Web of Science, and Psycinfo. Eleven studies met the research objective and inclusion criteria. Results: After reciprocal and refutational translations, the metaphor "The rainbow in the storm" and the following three themes emerged: (i) Between ambivalent feelings; (ii) being careful in the new preg- nancy; and (iii) leaning on others. CERQual assessment showed that the results are (highly) reasonable representations of the phenomenon of interest. Conclusions: Most women experienced their subsequent pregnancy with ambivalent feelings and needed to reduce expectations, continuously monitor the pregnancy’s viability, and eliminate risky behavior to protect themselves. Understanding and recognition by others is needed and appreciated. Implications for practice: Nurses and midwives play a crucial role in subsequent pregnancies and need to establish a care communion and ethical care during their encounters with affected women whose specific needs need to be incorporated into the guidelines and training curricula of care professionals to equip them with the necessary gender and cultural competences.Xunta de Galicia Competitive Reference Group; ED431C-2018/3

E2ML: A Visual Language for the Design of Instruction

The last decade has brought about a major change in higher education. Course design has developed from a craftsmanship-like process to a structured production, which involves interdisciplinary teams and requires more complex communication skills. This conceptual article introduces E2ML-Educational Environment Modeling Language-a visual language for supporting complex instructional design processes. E2ML can be used for visualizing the intermediate and final results of design, thus providing documentation in a shared language that can enhance team communication, improve design, and contribute to the development of high-quality instruction. The language and its formal features are presented from a conceptual point of view and illustrated by examples. The main results of a first evaluation study are reported, and the exploitation of E2ML in practice as well as its costs and benefits are critically discusse

An Observation about Truth

Tarski's analysis of the concept of truth gives rise to a hierarchy of languages. Does this fragment the concept all the way to philosophical unacceptability? I argue it doesn't, drawing on a modification of Kaplan's theory of indexicals

A conceptual and architectural characterization of antifragile systems

Antifragility is one of the terms that have recently emerged with the aim of indicating a direction that should be pursued toward the objective of designing Information and Communications Technology systems that remain trustworthy despite their dynamic and evolving operating context. We present a characterization of antifragility, aiming to clarify from a conceptual viewpoint the implications of its adoption as a design guideline and its relationships with other approaches sharing a similar objective. To this end, we discuss the inclusion of antifragility (and related concepts) within the well-known dependability taxonomy, which was proposed a few decades ago with the goal of providing a reference framework to reason about the different facets of the general concern of designing dependable systems. From our conceptual characterization, we then derive a possible path toward the engineering of antifragile systems