Context-aware Process Management for the Software Engineering Domain

Historically, software development projects are challenged with problems concerning budgets, deadlines and the quality of the produced software. Such problems have various causes like the high number of unplanned activities and the operational dynamics present in this domain. Most activities are knowledge-intensive and require collaboration of various actors. Additionally, the produced software is intangible and therefore difficult to measure. Thus, software producers are often insufficiently aware of the state of their source code, while suitable software quality measures are often applied too late in the project lifecycle, if at all. Software development processes are used by the majority of software companies to ensure the quality and reproducibility of their development endeavors. Typically, these processes are abstractly defined utilizing process models. However, they still need to be interpreted by individuals and be manually executed, resulting in governance and compliance issues. The environment is sufficiently dynamic that unforeseen situations can occur due to various events, leading to potential aberrations and process governance issues. Furthermore, as process models are implemented manually without automation support, they impose additional work for the executing humans. Their advantages often remain hidden as aligning the planned process with reality is cumbersome. In response to these problems, this thesis contributes the Context-aware Process Management (CPM) framework. The latter enables holistic and automated support for software engineering projects and their processes. In particular, it provides concepts for extending process management technology to support software engineering process models in their entirety. Furthermore, CPM contributes an approach to integrate the enactment of the process models better with the real-world process by introducing a set of contextual extensions. Various events occurring in the course of the projects can be utilized to improve process support and activities outside the realm of the process models can be covered. That way, the continuously growing divide between the plan and reality that often occurs in software engineering projects can be avoided. Finally, the CPM framework comprises facilities to better connect the software engineering process with other important aspects and areas of software engineering projects. This includes automated process-oriented support for software quality management or software engineering knowledge management. The CPM framework has been validated by a prototypical implementation, various sophisticated scenarios, and its practical application at two software companies

A Grounded Theory Study for Developing Teacher Self-Efficacy Throughout a Teaching Career

Abstract Teachers face unprecedented pressures that call into question their effectiveness and sense of self-efficacy. Teacher-self efficacy (TSE) involves teachers’ beliefs about their ability to meet the needs of their students regardless of circumstances or challenges (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 1977). Studies consistently supported the impact of self-efficacy on teacher effectiveness (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). A gap in the literature existed regarding how teachers develop self-efficacy throughout their careers. A mixed methods grounded theory study was conducted to identify factors affecting teachers’ self-efficacy at various career stages. I conducted a series of recursive interviews and focus groups and collected survey data related to the same topic. Findings revealed teachers develop a sense of self-efficacy in different ways depending in large part on their career path location. However, some factors positively influence TSE in all career stages, including self-reflection, feedback, collaboration, student relationships, and inclusive educational practices. A career model of teacher self-efficacy revealed differences in the contributing factors to self-efficacy based on learning habits and a direct focus on students. Generally speaking, as teachers progress through their careers, their TSE is fostered by narrowing their focus to aspects of their practice that directly impact students. For example, novice teachers developed TSE through feedback from authority figures while veteran teachers sought feedback directly from students. Additionally, the TSE of more experienced teachers was positively impacted by expanding their influence. For instance, veteran teachers pursued opportunities to mentor or coach other teachers as a way give back to the profession while enhancing their TSE

Thermodynamic interpretation of neptunium coprecipitation in uranophane for application to the Yucca Mountain repository

Interpretation and modeling of recent experimental data [1] yield thermodynamic constants for the distribution of trace Np(V) between aqueous solutions and uranophane. These data indicate that neptunyl is relatively excluded from the uranyl mineral structure, but the interpretation depends on uncertain aqueous speciation and thermodynamic properties as a function of temperature. Despite Np exclusion, the low calculated solubility of uranophane at 25 °C under conditions relevant to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, leads to Np concentrations at equilibrium with a Np-bearing uranophane solid solution that are low compared to concentrations invoked as solubility limits in Yucca Mountain performance assessments

Towards Automated Context-aware Software Quality Management

To consistently improve software quality management, greater automation and tighter integration of quality tools and measurements in the software engineering environment is essential. However, automation of software quality management faces numerous challenges such as project uniqueness, project dynamics, efficiency, and limited time and quality expenditures. In this paper, an approach is proposed that extends the Goal-Question-Metric technique and automates the monitoring of quality goals via a multi-agent system by using competitive bidding agent behavior for proactive vs. cooperative voting for reactive measures. The preliminary results show promise for systematically harmonizing (conflicting) quality attributes, goals, metrics, and countermeasures and for automating aspects of software quality management

An Assessment of Procedural Justice: Do Perceptions of Job Relatedness Alter Criterion-Related Validities?

Two studies examined an application of procedural justice to the field of human resources by investigating participant reactions to different selection assessments administered in the same session. Following Gilliland’s model of organizational justice applied to human resources, the first study investigated how reactions to a cognitive ability assessment and a measure of Conscientiousness may alter the participants’ test-taking motivation for these assessments. Extending beyond Gilliland’s proposals, the first study assessed if these changes in test-taking motivation ultimately altered the validity of the assessments and tested a model depicting changes in the effect on reactions when two assessments are taken together. Using 347 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology and business classes from two mid-sized universities, the validities were not significantly altered based on the different assessment orders. The second study attempted to determine if the validity of assessments could be maximized by administering the assessments with a business frame-of-reference and by administering them in a specific order. Using 176 participants similar to those in the first study, the results indicated that using a contextualized measure of Conscientiousness followed by a business related cognitive ability assessment did not maximize the assessments’ validities. Despite the general lack of support for the relationships assessed by these studies, exploratory analyses indicate that future research is warranted before ruling out the impact of perceptions of procedural justice on the validities of assessments administered in the same session