2,077 research outputs found

    Undergraduate Catalog of Studies, 2023-2024

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    Undergraduate Catalog of Studies, 2023-2024

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    Breaking Virtual Barriers : Investigating Virtual Reality for Enhanced Educational Engagement

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    Virtual reality (VR) is an innovative technology that has regained popularity in recent years. In the field of education, VR has been introduced as a tool to enhance learning experiences. This thesis presents an exploration of how VR is used from the context of educators and learners. The research employed a mixed-methods approach, including surveying and interviewing educators, and conducting empirical studies to examine engagement, usability, and user behaviour within VR. The results revealed educators are interested in using VR for a wide range of scenarios, including thought exercises, virtual field trips, and simulations. However, they face several barriers to incorporating VR into their practice, such as cost, lack of training, and technical challenges. A subsequent study found that virtual reality can no longer be assumed to be more engaging than desktop equivalents. This empirical study showed that engagement levels were similar in both VR and non-VR environments, suggesting that the novelty effect of VR may be less pronounced than previously assumed. A study against a VR mind mapping artifact, VERITAS, demonstrated that complex interactions are possible on low-cost VR devices, making VR accessible to educators and students. The analysis of user behaviour within this VR artifact showed that quantifiable strategies emerge, contributing to the understanding of how to design for collaborative VR experiences. This thesis provides insights into how the end-users in the education space perceive and use VR. The findings suggest that while educators are interested in using VR, they face barriers to adoption. The research highlights the need to design VR experiences, with understanding of existing pedagogy, that are engaging with careful thought applied to complex interactions, particularly for collaborative experiences. This research contributes to the understanding of the potential of VR in education and provides recommendations for educators and designers to enhance learning experiences using VR

    Undergraduate Catalog of Studies, 2022-2023

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    Technical Training to Nonprofit Managers Influences Using Big Data Technology in Business Operations

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    This nonexperimental, survey-based online quantitative study on nonprofit managers’ technical training measures the extent of the influence on big data technology use. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology is a theoretical framework to determine whether business managers are trained to have know-how in using big data technology. This study followed a quantitative methodology to help narrow the gap in research between what is not known in relation to the nonprofit manager’s technical training on the use of big data technology. Today’s data is the most critical asset, but progress toward big data technology-oriented usage needs to be accessed by the nonprofit. Nonprofits need to use big data technology to gain insights into identifying the program activities and monitor them to make better decisions that maximize societal impact. Big data technology allows nonprofit managers to be effective by getting insights into the problem-solving of the social programs where they operate to reduce unemployment, poverty, social exclusion, and low education levels. This study seeks to answer how nonprofit managers differ in technical training (facilitating conditions) using big data technology compared to managers who have not used big data technology to manage business operations. The study may contribute to bridging existing research gaps in managers’ technical training and using big data technology

    Essays on Innovations in Public Sector Auditing

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    The current antecedents of innovation in the public sector, that is, the adoption of SDGs and the unprecedented technological advancements exert pressures on the Supreme audit institutions’(SAIs) current socio-technical system. This has led SAIs to adopt different strategies to maintain their relevance and improve the quality of their work and operations. This thesis investigated the different types of innovations currently happening in the SAIs environment and how SAIs are reacting to the demands of these changes. This exploratory work captured public sector audit innovation through the following three essays: The first essay focused on Digital Transformation (DT), investigated how SAIs approach, and interpret DT. In this regard, DT was investigated from a SAIs perspective. Due to it being a novel topic in public sector auditing research, a qualitative research method was adopted, this method was supported with expert interviews and archival and or document data. Key findings revealed that the definition of DT varies from SAI to SAI, and this variation resulted from the differences in the level of digital development in each country. SAIs applied reactive and, in some situations proactive change strategies were applied. In the reactive strategy, SAIs reacted to change induced by a situational demand while in the proactive strategy, they experiment with technologies in advance. Most of the SAIs applying proactive change strategy operates an innovation lab or an experimentation space(see Bojovic, Sabatier, and Coblence 2020; Bucher and Langley 2016; Cartel, Boxenbaum, and Aggeri 2019; Wulf 2000). As an impact on public sector auditing profession, the research addresses the popular narrative of SAI’s equating digitization or the use of digital technologies to Digital transformation. It reiterated the holistic nature of DT, by pointing at the risk involved when DT is tied solely to technology adoption strategy ignoring other aspects such as people, organizational structure, strategy, culture, etc.La trasformazione in corso dell'ambiente esterno delle Istituzioni Superiori di Controllo (ISC, Corte dei conti) sta modificando le esigenze di controllo e le aspettative dei vari stakeholders coinvolti. Infatti, questa trasformazione, innescato dai progressi tecnologici, dall'adozione degli Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile (OSS) e dalla trasparenza sta modificando il modo e gli strumenti con cui viene esercitata l’attività di controllo. Ciò ha portato le ISC a adottare diverse strategie ed a introdurre diverse innovazioni per mantenere la loro rilevanza e migliorare la qualità del loro servizio. Vari autori hanno evidenziato la necessità di indagare circa le implicazioni del cambio della strategia di controllo e dell’adozione delle varie innovazioni tecnologiche nelle ISC. Il lavoro di tesi contribuisce in questa direzione e indaga sulle varie innovazioni tecnologiche adottate dalle ISC e come questi Istituzioni hanno reagito alle pressioni esterne di cambiamento. La tesi adotta un approccio esplorativo e sviluppa tre diverse ricerche per rispondere alla domanda principale di ricerca. La prima ricerca si concentra sulla trasformazione digitale (TD), e indaga su come le ISC hanno affrontato e interpretato la TD. La metodologia utilizzata è di tipo qualitativo. Sono state effettuate varie interviste a esperti del settore a livello internazionale oltre all’analisi documentale degli archivi delle varie istituzioni analizzate. I risultati hanno mostrato una diversa interpretazione e percezione, tra le istituzioni oggetto dello studio, del concetto della TD, dovuta alle differenze di sviluppo digitale nei vari paesi analizzati. Inoltre, i risultati mostrano che le ISC hanno adottato strategie reattive di cambiamento e, in alcune situazioni, hanno adottato strategie proattive. Nel primo caso, che rappresenta la maggioranza dei casi analizzati, le ISC hanno reagito al bisogno ovvero quando si presenta una necessità di cambiamento. Mentre nel secondo caso, ovvero di strategia di cambiamento proattivo, le ISC hanno sperimentato le tecnologie in anticipo. La maggior parte delle Istituzioni che ha adottato strategie proattive di cambiamento gestisce un laboratorio di innovazione o uno spazio di sperimentazione (vedi Bojovic, Sabatier e Coblence 2020; Bucher e Langley 2016; Cartel, Boxenbaum e Aggeri 2019; Wulf 2000). Inoltre, la ricerca mostra come la digitalizzazione o l'uso delle tecnologie digitali vengono equiparati alla TD nelle ISC. Questo rischio di interpretazione del concetto si concretizza soprattutto, come mostrano i risultati, quando la TD viene legata esclusivamente alla strategia di adozione della tecnologia ignorando altri aspetti come le persone, la struttura organizzativa, la strategia, la cultura, ecc

    Visualizing Project Life-Cycle Data in a Hybrid Dashboard for Federal Capital Projects

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    Capital project owners face several challenges in extracting meaningful information from large and complex data sets generated throughout the life cycle of a construction project. Capital projects must strike a balance between intuition-driven and data-driven decision-making due to their sensitive and change-averse nature. The main objective of this study is to improve the structure, clarity, and interpretation of the construction data, and enhance the decision-making processes for federal capital projects. To achieve this goal, this study developed a hybrid dashboard tailored to the federal agencies’ requirements of performance assessment. This study is a sub-section of broader research – the Federal Facilities Data Analytics Research Application Program (FF-DARAP). The sub-objectives of this study focused on identifying essential performance metrics and the most effective visual aids that communicate the accurate value of the metrics. This study employed a roundtable discussion, survey questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews as methods of data collection. The collected data was analyzed using methods such as mean score calculation and thematic analysis. As a result, two iterations of a prototype dashboard were created using Microsoft PowerBI and tested for usability satisfaction. The usability assessment was conducted using the CSUQ survey instrument by IBM and the iteration with a better score was recommended to the federal agencies for final deployment. The results of this study indicate that a well-designed dashboard can be a powerful tool for performance assessment and benchmarking and human factors considerations play an important role in this process. This study discusses the detailed approach to dashboard development; however, the content of the dashboard is unique to the federal agencies, therefore its generalizability is limited. Furthermore, the scope of this study only focuses on creating a strategic and analytical dashboard, therefore the design considerations may not be applicable to operational dashboards

    Learning foreign languages online: A case of Chinese language learners in Ghana in the era of COVID -19

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    E-learning has gained prominence in education institutions across the world. Teaching and learning of the Chinese language at the University of Ghana has been done online due to the university’s announcement to use e-learning to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The aim of this paper is to investigate the online experiences of students learning Chinese language at the University of Ghana in the era of COVID -19. A structured questionnaire was employed using a simple descriptive case study to obtain the research information. The study selected two hundred and fifty (250) Chinese language learners who responded to the research questionnaires. Findings showed that the majority of the students desired to have training in e-learning because they considered it very useful since it enabled them to learn at their own pace and convenience. Most students shared that they have adequate skills in computing. The study also established that e-learning has become a new way of teaching and the study recommends adaptability in studying Chinese language through the internet

    SurfaceCast: Ubiquitous, Cross-Device Surface Sharing

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    Real-time online interaction is the norm today. Tabletops and other dedicated interactive surface devices with direct input and tangible interaction can enhance remote collaboration, and open up new interaction scenarios based on mixed physical/virtual components. However, they are only available to a small subset of users, as they usually require identical bespoke hardware for every participant, are complex to setup, and need custom scenario-specific applications. We present SurfaceCast, a software toolkit designed to merge multiple distributed, heterogeneous end-user devices into a single, shared mixed-reality surface. Supported devices include regular desktop and laptop computers, tablets, and mixed-reality headsets, as well as projector-camera setups and dedicated interactive tabletop systems. This device-agnostic approach provides a fundamental building block for exploration of a far wider range of usage scenarios than previously feasible, including future clients using our provided API. In this paper, we discuss the software architecture of SurfaceCast, present a formative user study and a quantitative performance analysis of our framework, and introduce five example application scenarios which we enhance through the multi-user and multi-device features of the framework. Our results show that the hardware- and content-agnostic architecture of SurfaceCast can run on a wide variety of devices with sufficient performance and fidelity for real-time interaction

    Application of knowledge management principles to support maintenance strategies in healthcare organisations

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    Healthcare is a vital service that touches people's lives on a daily basis by providing treatment and resolving patients' health problems through the staff. Human lives are ultimately dependent on the skilled hands of the staff and those who manage the infrastructure that supports the daily operations of the service, making it a compelling reason for a dedicated research study. However, the UK healthcare sector is undergoing rapid changes, driven by rising costs, technological advancements, changing patient expectations, and increasing pressure to deliver sustainable healthcare. With the global rise in healthcare challenges, the need for sustainable healthcare delivery has become imperative. Sustainable healthcare delivery requires the integration of various practices that enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare infrastructural assets. One critical area that requires attention is the management of healthcare facilities. Healthcare facilitiesis considered one of the core elements in the delivery of effective healthcare services, as shortcomings in the provision of facilities management (FM) services in hospitals may have much more drastic negative effects than in any other general forms of buildings. An essential element in healthcare FM is linked to the relationship between action and knowledge. With a full sense of understanding of infrastructural assets, it is possible to improve, manage and make buildings suitable to the needs of users and to ensure the functionality of the structure and processes. The premise of FM is that an organisation's effectiveness and efficiency are linked to the physical environment in which it operates and that improving the environment can result in direct benefits in operational performance. The goal of healthcare FM is to support the achievement of organisational mission and goals by designing and managing space and infrastructural assets in the best combination of suitability, efficiency, and cost. In operational terms, performance refers to how well a building contributes to fulfilling its intended functions. Therefore, comprehensive deployment of efficient FM approaches is essential for ensuring quality healthcare provision while positively impacting overall patient experiences. In this regard, incorporating knowledge management (KM) principles into hospitals' FM processes contributes significantly to ensuring sustainable healthcare provision and enhancement of patient experiences. Organisations implementing KM principles are better positioned to navigate the constantly evolving business ecosystem easily. Furthermore, KM is vital in processes and service improvement, strategic decision-making, and organisational adaptation and renewal. In this regard, KM principles can be applied to improve hospital FM, thereby ensuring sustainable healthcare delivery. Knowledge management assumes that organisations that manage their organisational and individual knowledge more effectively will be able to cope more successfully with the challenges of the new business ecosystem. There is also the argument that KM plays a crucial role in improving processes and services, strategic decision-making, and adapting and renewing an organisation. The goal of KM is to aid action – providing "a knowledge pull" rather than the information overload most people experience in healthcare FM. Other motivations for seeking better KM in healthcare FM include patient safety, evidence-based care, and cost efficiency as the dominant drivers. The most evidence exists for the success of such approaches at knowledge bottlenecks, such as infection prevention and control, working safely, compliances, automated systems and reminders, and recall based on best practices. The ability to cultivate, nurture and maximise knowledge at multiple levels and in multiple contexts is one of the most significant challenges for those responsible for KM. However, despite the potential benefits, applying KM principles in hospital facilities is still limited. There is a lack of understanding of how KM can be effectively applied in this context, and few studies have explored the potential challenges and opportunities associated with implementing KM principles in hospitals facilities for sustainable healthcare delivery. This study explores applying KM principles to support maintenance strategies in healthcare organisations. The study also explores the challenges and opportunities, for healthcare organisations and FM practitioners, in operationalising a framework which draws the interconnectedness between healthcare. The study begins by defining healthcare FM and its importance in the healthcare industry. It then discusses the concept of KM and the different types of knowledge that are relevant in the healthcare FM sector. The study also examines the challenges that healthcare FM face in managing knowledge and how the application of KM principles can help to overcome these challenges. The study then explores the different KM strategies that can be applied in healthcare FM. The KM benefits include improved patient outcomes, reduced costs, increased efficiency, and enhanced collaboration among healthcare professionals. Additionally, issues like creating a culture of innovation, technology, and benchmarking are considered. In addition, a framework that integrates the essential concepts of KM in healthcare FM will be presented and discussed. The field of KM is introduced as a complex adaptive system with numerous possibilities and challenges. In this context, and in consideration of healthcare FM, five objectives have been formulated to achieve the research aim. As part of the research, a number of objectives will be evaluated, including appraising the concept of KM and how knowledge is created, stored, transferred, and utilised in healthcare FM, evaluating the impact of organisational structure on job satisfaction as well as exploring how cultural differences impact knowledge sharing and performance in healthcare FM organisations. This study uses a combination of qualitative methods, such as meetings, observations, document analysis (internal and external), and semi-structured interviews, to discover the subjective experiences of healthcare FM employees and to understand the phenomenon within a real-world context and attitudes of healthcare FM as the data collection method, using open questions to allow probing where appropriate and facilitating KM development in the delivery and practice of healthcare FM. The study describes the research methodology using the theoretical concept of the "research onion". The qualitative research was conducted in the NHS acute and non-acute hospitals in Northwest England. Findings from the research study revealed that while the concept of KM has grown significantly in recent years, KM in healthcare FM has received little or no attention. The target population was fifty (five FM directors, five academics, five industry experts, ten managers, ten supervisors, five team leaders and ten operatives). These seven groups were purposively selected as the target population because they play a crucial role in KM enhancement in healthcare FM. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with all participants based on their pre-determined availability. Out of the 50-target population, only 25 were successfully interviewed to the point of saturation. Data collected from the interview were coded and analysed using NVivo to identify themes and patterns related to KM in healthcare FM. The study is divided into eight major sections. First, it discusses literature findings regarding healthcare FM and KM, including underlying trends in FM, KM in general, and KM in healthcare FM. Second, the research establishes the study's methodology, introducing the five research objectives, questions and hypothesis. The chapter introduces the literature on methodology elements, including philosophical views and inquiry strategies. The interview and data analysis look at the feedback from the interviews. Lastly, a conclusion and recommendation summarise the research objectives and suggest further research. Overall, this study highlights the importance of KM in healthcare FM and provides insights for healthcare FM directors, managers, supervisors, academia, researchers and operatives on effectively leveraging knowledge to improve patient care and organisational effectiveness
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