Frameworks for enhancing temporal interface behaviour through software architectural design

The work reported in this thesis is concerned with understanding aspects of temporal behaviour. A large part of the thesis is based on analytical studies of temporal properties and interface and architectural concerns. The main areas covered include: i. analysing long-term human processes and the impact of interruptions and delays ii. investigating how infrastructures can be designed to support synchronous fast pace activity iii.design of the Getting-to-Know (GtK) experimental notification server The work is motivated by the failure of many collaborative systems to effectively manage the temporal behaviour at the interface level, as they often assume that the interaction is taking place over fast, reliable local area networks. However, the Web has challenged this assumption and users are faced with frequent network-related delays. The nature of cooperative work increases the importance of timing issues. Collaborative users require both rapid feedback of their own actions and timely feedthrough of other actions. Although it may appear that software architectures are about the internals of system design and not a necessary concern for the user interface, internal details do show up at the surface in non-functional aspects, such as timing. The focus of this work is on understanding the behavioural aspects and how they are influenced by the infrastructure. The thesis has contributed to several areas of research: (a)the study of long-term work processes generated a trigger analysis technique for task decomposition in HCI (b)the analysis of architectures was later applied to investigate architectural options for mobile interfaces (c)the framework for notification servers commenced a design vocabulary in CSCW for the implementation of notification services, with the aim of improving design (d)the impedance matching framework facilitate both goal-directed feedthrough and awareness In particular, (c) and (d) have been exercised in the development of the GtK separable notification server

A review of the empirical studies of computer supported human-to-human communication

This paper presents a review of the empirical studies of human-to-human communication which have been carried out over the last three decades. Although this review is primarily concerned with the empirical studies of computer supported human-to-human communication, a number of studies dealing with group work in non-computer-based collaborative environments, which form the basis of many of the empirical studies of the recent years in the area of CSCW, are also discussed. The concept of person and task spaces is introduced and then subsequently used to categorise the large volume of studies reported in this review. This paper also gives a comparative analysis of the findings of these studies, and draws a number of general conclusions to guide the design and evaluation of future CSCW systems

Students’ Experiences of the Social Environment and Social Presence in Campus-Based and Web-Based Education

Learning is a social process involving conversation, dialogue, and interactivity. Student-student, student-instructor, student-content, and student-interface interaction are considered integral to meaningful learning in both campus-based and web-based education (Moore, 1989; Hillman, Willis and Gunawardena, 1994). A review of the literature suggests that social factors are of increasing concern to distance learning researchers and practitioners. In particular, the concept of social presence has emerged as essential to comprehending the social context of web-based teaching and learning and to students’ overall satisfaction with a course. The purpose of the study was to observe and describe the social environment of two sections of Information Sciences 530: Information Access and Retrieval, and to understand students’ experiences with social presence. One of the sections was taught in a web-based distance education format, using asynchronous and synchronous text-based chat and audio-conferencing software. The other section was delivered in a traditional, campus-based setting. Both sections were taught by the same instructor and covered the same material. The study used multiple case study design within the framework of naturalistic qualitative research. Participant-observation, document analysis and interviews were used to obtain as much information as possible about the social environment and students’ interpretations of social presence. Once the data from each case had been carefully examined and themes identified, a cross case analysis was performed to generate more information about the relationship between social presence in campus-based education and social presence in web-based distance education. In both sections the social environment reflected a myriad of characteristics, including the students’ and teacher’s previous educational experiences, values and attitudes, as well as interpersonal and intellectual exchanges between and among students and the instructor. The social atmosphere reflected students sharing knowledge and building relationships over time. Students in the campus-based course assigned meaning to social presence in terms of teaching, learning and connecting with fellow students. Participants in the web-based course experienced social presence as an awareness of fellow students based on their classmates’ ability to use and manipulate the technology and computer-mediated communication tools

Attitudes towards Face-To-Face Meetings in Virtual Engineering Teams: Perceptions from a Survey of Defense Projects

Modes of communication used in virtual defense projects have changed dramatically over the years with tools such as email and video-conferencing dominating face-to-face (FTF) meetings. We conducted a survey at a defense firm with an aim to test current attitudes towards FTF meetings – with respect to significant problems faced, project success, transfer of technical requirements, preference for FTF vis-à-vis virtual meetings, differences between virtual and co-located environments, criticality of various forms of communication, and whether FTF meetings were scheduled as often as desired. Our survey participants, about one hundred in number, were experienced engineers, technicians, and program managers – working in a virtual product development team at a defense firm. The results suggest that despite significant advances in virtual communication technologies, FTF meetings remain critical and cannot be eliminated from defense firms. Further, it is also clear that FTF meetings can play a significant role in reducing chances of miscommunication

A Snapshot of Science Education During Covid-19 in the Spring of 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed many unique challenges on our education system. Unpacking the many issues that educators faced will allow researchers to understand some of the impacts that resulted from this unique phenomenon. This exploratory qualitative research study sought to understand how science educators and administrators made sense of science instruction during the spring of 2021. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and online observations with ten K-12 science teachers and four administrators across two different counties within Virginia. Thematic coding was employed to analyze the findings, and results were validated through member checking with participants. Participants shared that the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to be extremely resilient and flexible to cope with the changing landscape. For science instruction issues of scientific engagement, inquiry instruction, and equity were present for science educators

Social interaction in an online cross-disciplinary research conference

This research study investigated the social interaction in an online cross-disciplinary research conference. The research study followed an online conference of researchers from disciplines of social sciences, law, and humanities. The online conference was initiated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and was hosted by Centre for Educational Technology (CET) at University of Cape Town (UCT). The main aim of the research study is to identify social interaction enablers and inhibitors in an online cross-disciplinary conference. The Internet is being used for numerous purposes, such as extending one's social networks, participating in online communities, finding a marriage partner, learning, and developing successful business relationships. An online conference uses the Internet for social networking. The study followed an interpretive research approach and combined critical discourse analysis (CDA) and the social presence indicators template (SPIT) as its analytical framework. The focus of the study was on the analysis and interpretation of the online conference text messages (artefacts) to identify enablers and inhibitors of social interaction. The social interaction enablers identified in the study included sharing and seeking of information, social presence, time and geographical confidence and flexibility, facilitation, prescribed/relevant topics and increased confidence and reduced evaluation anxiety. Inhibitors of social interaction were lack of community, prescribed topics, minimal activities, lack of non-verbal and social cues and clarity of topics. The social interaction enablers that were not identified in the literature were prescribed/relevant topics and collaboration and lobbying. Lack of community, clarity of topics, prescribed topics and minimal activities were identified as inhibitors of social interaction in the study but were not identified in the literature. In addition, the research found that some social interaction enablers were also found to be inhibitors. A revelation in the research study was that prescribed topics both enabled and inhibited social interaction. While some participants contributed towards these topics, others did not. Although the study focused predominantly on a cross-disciplinary research conference the findings reported in this study could have useful applications on online social interaction in general. The study has found out that an online conference arguably has merits over a face-to-face conference, but these benefits can only be optimised when social interaction is deliberately fostered through convergence of the online conference tool, facilitation, and topic design

Innovation Adoption and Diffusion in Synchronous Tutoring Owls: A Cross-Contextual Case Study Using Diffusion of Innovations Theory

Synchronous online tutoring shares many attributes with face-to-face tutoring such as real-time, document collaboration, and conversational cues provided by audio and video, yet writing center professionals know seemingly little about synchronous tutoring OWLs due to the lack of formal publications about synchronous online tutoring coupled with the prevailing paradigm that seeks to transfer face-to-face tutoring practices to online synchronous tutoring, which overshadows the innovation processes taking place in synchronous OWLs. The purpose of this study was to document emergent practices in the use of two different synchronous tutoring technologies and the processes by which those practices were adopted and implemented in each OWL, using the theoretical framework of Diffusion of Innovations (DOI). A qualitative, case-study methodology was used to explore the contextual-based knowledge of tutors and writing center directors within each case. Several DOI principles emerged to explain the relationship between the prevailing face-to-face paradigm and the selection, reinvention, and adoption of each synchronous tutoring technology and its related tutoring practices. The findings suggest that writing center professionals could benefit from enhancing their understanding of DOI’s social system concept and its symbiotic relationship with the established roles of metaphor and previous experience in synchronous tutoring innovations

Instructional Message Design: Theory, Research, and Practice (Volume 2)

Message design is all around us, from the presentations we see in meetings and classes, to the instructions that come with our latest tech gadgets, to multi-million-dollar training simulations. In short, instructional message design is the real-world application of instructional and learning theories to design the tools and technologies used to communicate and effectively convey information. This field of study pulls from many applied sciences including cognitive psychology, industrial design, graphic design, instructional design, information technology, and human performance technology to name just a few. In this book we will visit several foundational theories that guide our research, look at different real-world applications, and begin to discuss directions for future best practice. For instance, cognitive load and multimedia learning theories provide best practice, virtual reality and simulations are only a few of the multitude of applications. Special needs learners and designing for online, e-learning, and web conferencing are only some of many applied areas where effective message design can improve outcomes. Studying effective instructional message design tools and techniques has and will continue to be a critical aspect of the overall instructional design process. Hopefully, this book will serve as an introduction to these topics and inspire your curiosity to explore further

Instructional Message Design: Theory, Research, and Practice (Volume 2)

Message design is all around us, from the presentations we see in meetings and classes, to the instructions that come with our latest tech gadgets, to multi-million-dollar training simulations. In short, instructional message design is the real-world application of instructional and learning theories to design the tools and technologies used to communicate and effectively convey information. This field of study pulls from many applied sciences including cognitive psychology, industrial design, graphic design, instructional design, information technology, and human performance technology to name just a few. In this book we visit several foundational theories that guide our research, look at different real-world applications, and begin to discuss directions for future best practice. For instance, cognitive load and multimedia learning theories provide best practice, virtual reality and simulations are only a few of the multitude of applications. Special needs learners and designing for online, e-learning, and web conferencing are only some of many applied areas where effective message design can improve outcomes. Studying effective instructional message design tools and techniques has and will continue to be a critical aspect of the overall instructional design process. Hopefully, this book will serve as an introduction to these topics and inspire your curiosity to explore further!https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/distancelearning_books/1003/thumbnail.jp