The need of diagrams based on Toulmin schema application: an aeronautical case study

In this article, Justification Diagrams are introduced for structuring evidence to support conclusions that are reached from results of simulation studies. An industrial application is used to illustrate the use of the Justification Diagrams. Adapted from the Toulmin schema, the aim of Justification Diagram is to define a comprehensive, auditable and shareable notation to explain the results, the input data, the assumptions made and the techniques applied, to construct a cogent conclusion. Further, the Justification Diagrams provide a visual representation of the argument that aims to corroborate the specified claims, or conclusions. A large part of this work is based on the application of the Justification Diagrams in the context of the European project, TOICA. The Justification Diagrams were used to structure all justifications that would be needed to convince an authority that a simulation process, and the associated results, upheld a particular conclusion. These diagrams are built concurrently in a product development process that accompanies the various stages of Verification and Validation (V&V) and where, for each design stage of V&V, argumentation is constructed by aggregating evidence and documents produced at this design stage

Observational models of requirements evolution

Requirements Evolution is one of the main issues that affect development activities as well as system features (e.g., system dependability). Although researchers and practitioners recognise the importance of requirements evolution, research results and experience are still patchy. This points out a lack of methodologies that address requirements evolution. This thesis investigates the current understanding of requirements evolution and explores new directions in requirements evolution research. The empirical analysis of industrial case studies highlights software requirements evolution as an important issue. Unfortunately, traditional requirements engineering methodologies provide limited support to capture requirements evolution. Heterogeneous engineering provides a comprehensive account of system requirements. Heterogeneous engineering stresses a holistic viewpoint that allows us to understand the underlying mechanisms of evolution of socio-technical systems. Requirements, as mappings between socio-technical solutions and problems, represent an account of the history of socio-technical issues arising and being solved within industrial settings. The formal extension of a heterogeneous account of requirements provides a framework to model and capture requirements evolution. The application of the proposed framework provides further evidence that it is possible to capture and model evolutionary information about requirements. The discussion of scenarios of use stresses practical necessities for methodologies addressing requirements evolution. Finally, the identification of a broad spectrum of evolutions in socio-technical systems points out strong contingencies between system evolution and dependability. This thesis argues that the better our understanding of socio-techn..

Exploring the black box of early-stage entrepreneurial planning: Hermeneutical insights from case research

Researchers are engaged in a major debate on the value of business planning in new venture creation. Findings of prior empirical research have been fragmented and contradictory. This does not surprise given that despite the lack of an understanding of the nature of planning in the entrepreneurial context, most of these studies employed survey methodology to test the impact of planning on performance. This thesis seeks to deepen our understanding of entrepreneurial planning by drawing on qualitative case research. Theories from narrow streams of literature were combined to develop a holistic theoretical framework that was used to collect and analyse data from four cases. Results show that in contrast to the methods employed in previous studies, the presence of a business plan is a poor proxy for measuring the extent to which the entrepreneurs in the four cases studied plan. Rather, planning in these cases occurs on various levels with different types of formal and informal outcomes, depending on a range of antecedents such as the industry in which the new venture is operating. The understanding and theoretical framework developed in this thesis can be used to create better measures in quantitative studies and ultimately contribute to the question of whether and how entrepreneurs should plan

Exploring grade 11 learners’ use of the geogebra programme when learning euclidean geometry.

Masters Degree. University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Durban.The GeoGebra programme is a free computer application programme that provides an algebra view, Geometry view, spreadsheet view and an input bar. This study explored how the GeoGebra programme contributed to learners’ learning and understanding of Euclidean Geometry. The research focused on participants’ experiences as they used the GeoGebra programme to support their understanding of Euclidean Geometry. It highlighted learners’ perspectives on the role of the GeoGebra programme in supporting an exploration of Euclidean Geometry in particular and mathematical ideas in general. The focus of the study was to explore the way in which the GeoGebra programme is used, as a learning tool and mediating artefact in the learning of Euclidean Geometry in Grade 11 Mathematics. This study also aimed to explore learners’ experiences and perceptions when the GeoGebra programme is used to support the learning of Grade 11 Euclidean Geometry. The main research questions that guided this study focused on how learners used the GeoGebra programme Euclidean Geometry to support their understanding and why the GeoGebra programme is used in the way that it is when learning Grade 11 Euclidean Geometry. The study is rooted within a Constructivist view of learning and mediated learning and the approach used is a case study. The research was carried out in a public school that involved 16 learners. Data was generated by using tasks, lesson observations and interviews. Based on a qualitative analysis of the data generated, the findings indicate that the introduction of the GeoGebra programme did have an influence on the learning practice in three dimensions, namely: (1) the GeoGebra programme provided a medium for visualisation that linked the development of mathematical ideas and concepts through computer-based learning, (2) the GeoGebra programme created an independent constructive learning environment and (3) the utilisation of the GeoGebra programme as a learning tool enhanced learners’ conceptual understanding of Euclidean Geometry understanding

Valuation practices, value conflicts and coordination in urban development: The case of active frontages design in urban regeneration

This thesis contributes to an ongoing discussion between the classic field of urban studies and the emerging field of valuation\ua0studies, the latter being devoted to the study of valuation as a social practice (Helgesson and Muniesa, 2013).The thesis is oriented around the questions of: How valuation practices in urban development can be conceptualized; Why\ua0certain articulations of value gain legitimacy rather than others, and; How friction between values are expressed and resolved.\ua0The questions are explored through an ethnographically inspired case study on the development of active frontages in the\ua0area of Masthuggskajen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The case is presented in two papers. The first paper develops a framework\ua0by Metzger and Wiberg (2017) to study the framing of urban qualities and values in inter-organizational urban regeneration,\ua0whilst the second paper builds on the work of Stark (2009) and Far\uedas (2015) to explore the mundane practices and strategies\ua0employed to coordinate value conflicts in urban-codesign.The thesis illustrates how valuation practices in urban development can be construed as an omnipresent practice where\ua0human actors and artifacts collectively articulate the value of urban space. The thesis also highlights the role that mundane\ua0strategies and practices of coordination play in framing certain accounts of value as legitimate rather than others. Finally, the\ua0thesis portrays value conflicts as an omnipresent phenomenon, the resolution of which happens through various mundane\ua0strategies and practices of coordination

Performance management practices in lean manufacturing organizations: A systematic review of research evidence

This paper provides the first systematic look into the existing research on performance management (PM) practices employed in lean manufacturing organisations (LMOs). It adopts a systematic review method to examine the evidence generated in the period 2004 – 2015 and uses a comprehensive PM framework to synthesise the findings. The results suggest that PM practices that have the most prominent role in LMOs are those that, firstly, are located closest to front-line actions and, secondly, explicitly address operational realities. This calls into question the primacy of accounting-driven controls in LMOs, suggesting that operational controls may be more effective than top-down accounting-based PM practices. The results also confirm the bias towards operational-level issues but suggest that LMOs may integrate the operational and the strategic levels by using PM practices that drive organisational learning through employee involvement and engagement

A UML Profile for the Design, Quality Assessment and Deployment of Data-intensive Applications

Big Data or Data-Intensive applications (DIAs) seek to mine, manipulate, extract or otherwise exploit the potential intelligence hidden behind Big Data. However, several practitioner surveys remark that DIAs potential is still untapped because of very difficult and costly design, quality assessment and continuous refinement. To address the above shortcoming, we propose the use of a UML domain-specific modeling language or profile specifically tailored to support the design, assessment and continuous deployment of DIAs. This article illustrates our DIA-specific profile and outlines its usage in the context of DIA performance engineering and deployment. For DIA performance engineering, we rely on the Apache Hadoop technology, while for DIA deployment, we leverage the TOSCA language. We conclude that the proposed profile offers a powerful language for data-intensive software and systems modeling, quality evaluation and automated deployment of DIAs on private or public clouds

An exploration of evidence of deficits and theories of therapy for specific-receptive language impairment in children

Children with specific receptive language impairments (SRLI) have been found to be vulnerable to negative outcomes later in life, in terms of mental health, behaviour and literacy. Currently there is little evidence of the efficacy of speech and language therapy in this area, and a dearth of studies that have investigated interventions for receptive language. Following recommended steps from the Medical Research Council’s guidance for the development of complex interventions, this research focuses on identifying and developing evidence and theory for interventions for SRLI. Evidence of deficit was first explored in a systematic literature review (SLR), examining the nature of the cognitive and linguistic deficits in children with SRLI. Grammar and word learning were identified as areas of particular difficulty for this population. Deficits in information processing, in particular short term and working memory, were also identified as playing a role in these children’s impairments. However, a number of issues were identified with the validity of studies in the area.Theories of therapy were examined in relation to the areas of deficit identified in the SLR through examination of existing intervention studies for children with SRLI, and exploring expert speech and language therapists (SLTs) views in focus groups. Three focus groups with 16 expert SLTs were conducted, followed by a larger group with 23 SLTs who had a range of experience. The groups explored intervention approaches for SRLI, in relation to the deficits identified in the SLR, as well as their rationales for these interventions. It was found that SLTs did not often refer to explicit theories underpinning their intervention for SRLI and had difficulty describing processes of change. However, thematic analysis revealed core therapy components, as well as common approaches for selecting targets across groups. Responses also indicated that the interventions SLTs describe often focus on children’s participation and functioning rather than impairment. The findings of the research are used to present a model of interventions for SRLI. The findings are also drawn upon to examine possible mechanisms of change in interventions for children with SRLI

SAFE-FLOW : a systematic approach for safety analysis of clinical workflows

The increasing use of technology in delivering clinical services brings substantial benefits to the healthcare industry. At the same time, it introduces potential new complications to clinical workflows that generate new risks and hazards with the potential to affect patients’ safety. These workflows are safety critical and can have a damaging impact on all the involved parties if they fail.Due to the large number of processes included in the delivery of a clinical service, it can be difficult to determine the individuals or the processes that are responsible for adverse events. Using methodological approaches and automated tools to carry out an analysis of the workflow can help in determining the origins of potential adverse events and consequently help in avoiding preventable errors. There is a scarcity of studies addressing this problem; this was a partial motivation for this thesis.The main aim of the research is to demonstrate the potential value of computer science based dependability approaches to healthcare and in particular, the appropriateness and benefits of these dependability approaches to overall clinical workflows. A particular focus is to show that model-based safety analysis techniques can be usefully applied to such areas and then to evaluate this application.This thesis develops the SAFE-FLOW approach for safety analysis of clinical workflows in order to establish the relevance of such application. SAFE-FLOW detailed steps and guidelines for its application are explained. Then, SAFE-FLOW is applied to a case study and is systematically evaluated. The proposed evaluation design provides a generic evaluation strategy that can be used to evaluate the adoption of safety analysis methods in healthcare.It is concluded that safety of clinical workflows can be significantly improved by performing safety analysis on workflow models. The evaluation results show that SAFE-FLOW is feasible and it has the potential to provide various benefits; it provides a mechanism for a systematic identification of both adverse events and safeguards, which is helpful in terms of identifying the causes of possible adverse events before they happen and can assist in the design of workflows to avoid such occurrences. The clear definition of the workflow including its processes and tasks provides a valuable opportunity for formulation of safety improvement strategies