Introducing digital literacy skills through IBL: A comparative study of UG and PG business information systems students

This paper reports a comparative study of Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) at Undergraduate (UG) and Postgraduate (PG) levels at a university in the north west of England. Both student cohorts undertook a professional, legal and ethical module centred on IT. This study focuses on how the different student cohorts approached this style of teaching, and how it impacted on overall student engagement throughout the semester. IBL was introduced in the 2009-2010 academic years; to the UG students in the first semester and the PG students in the second semester. Key observations gained from the study were unexpected in that the UG level students fully embraced the IBL approach, they maintained a high attendance level throughout the semester, and all preliminary and formative assessment work/tasks were eagerly completed. Ultimately, this developed students’ information literacy skills. PG students enjoyed the in-class IBL activities, but actively avoided module preparation and formative assessment work/tasks, and so minimized their opportunities to develop rich digital literacy skills. This study highlights potential enablers required to employ IBL techniques successfully

Ecstasi project : Using technology to encourage creativity in the assessment process

The notion of creativity has attracted increasing attention in Higher Education in recent years, and is seen to be of importance in a variety of disciplines, not just those which are closely associated with the creative industries. This provides a challenge to educators to understand how the concept can be incorporated into student learning and assessment. This paper introduces the Ecstasi project, which is studying the creative learning journey of students in two different disciplines and institutions, on modules which use an inquiry-based pedagogy. The students are encouraged to creatively utilise information technology to develop artefacts for their assessed work. A key challenge is the assessment of creativity, which we consider this using the dimensions of person, process and product. The paper discusses creativity and its assessment in HE, presents preliminary results from the on-going longitudinal study, and considers the role of technology in this process

SPARC 2022 book of abstracts

Welcome to the Book of Abstracts for the 2022 SPARC conference. Our conference is called “Moving Forwards” reflecting our re-emergence from the pandemic and our desire to reconnect our PGR community, in celebration of their research. PGRs have continued with their research endeavours despite many challenges, and their ongoing successes are underpinned by the support and guidance of dedicated supervisors and the Doctoral School Team. To recognise supervision excellence we will be awarding our annual Supervisor of the Year prizes, based on the wonderful nominations received from their PGR students.Once again, we have received a tremendous contribution from our postgraduate research community; with over 60 presenters, 12 Three-Minute Thesis finalists, and 20 poster presentations, the conference showcases our extraordinarily vibrant, inclusive, and resilient PGR community at Salford. This year there will be prizes to be won for ‘best in conference’ presentations, in addition to the winners from each parallel session. Audience members too could be in for a treat, with judges handing out spot prizes for the best questions asked, so don’t miss the opportunity to put your hand up. These abstracts provide a taster of the diverse and impactful research in progress and provide delegates with a reference point for networking and initiating critical debate. Take advantage of the hybrid format: in online sessions by posting a comment or by messaging an author to say “Hello”, or by initiating break time discussions about the amazing research you’ve seen if you are with us in person. Who knows what might result from your conversation? With such wide-ranging topics being showcased, we encourage you to take up this great opportunity to engage with researchers working in different subject areas from your own. As recent events have shown, researchers need to collaborate to meet global challenges. Interdisciplinary and international working is increasingly recognised and rewarded by all major research funders. We do hope, therefore, that you will take this opportunity to initiate interdisciplinary conversations with other researchers. A question or comment from a different perspective can shed new light on a project and could lead to exciting collaborations, and that is what SPARC is all about. SPARC is part of a programme of personal and professional development opportunities offered to all postgraduate researchers at Salford. More information about this programme is available on our website: Doctoral School | University of Salford. Registered Salford students can access full details on the Doctoral School hub: Doctoral School Hub - Home (sharepoint.com) You can follow us on Twitter @SalfordPGRs and please use the #SPARC2022 to share your conference experience.We particularly welcome taught students from our undergraduate and master’s programmes as audience members. We hope you enjoy the presentations on offer and that they inspire you to pursue your own research career. If you would like more information about studying for a PhD here at the University of Salford, your lecturers can advise, or you can contact the relevant PGR Support Officer; their details can be found at Doctoral School | University of Salford. We wish you a rich and rewarding conference experience

A Comparison of Empirical Study and Cognitive Dimensions Analysis in the Evaluation of UML Diagrams

It is important that all those who use representations of a system during the development process can clearly understand the representations that are used. Research has shown that structure plays an important role in whether a diagrammatic representation may be readily understood. In this paper we present the results of a study where two different approaches were taken to the evaluation of two notations which form part of the UML diagram toolkit: sequence diagrams and collaboration diagrams. First, a theoretical investigation was carried out using the cognitive dimensions framework. Second, an empirical study was carried out to investigate user understanding of such diagrams. The results of the two studies did not concur, with the theoretical approach supporting the original hypothesis that structure is an important factor in diagram comprehension, but the study providing no evidence to support this

An empirical study of factors that affect user performance when using UML interaction diagrams

During the requirements process it is of key importance that all representations used are clearly understood by those who must use them. Therefore it is essential to ensure that those representations are presented as effectively as possible. The research reported in this paper relates to an empirical study carried out to investigate factors which might affect user performance when using UML interaction diagrams. Several variables were investigated in the study; these were identified from the related literature and earlier research by us as being important in understanding interaction diagrams. The independent variables investigated in the study were diagram type, user pre-test and post-test preference, individual's cognitive style, text direction, scenario type and question type. Time taken to formulate the correct answer was the dependent variable used as the measure of performance. Statistical analysis of data showed significant differences for several variables, including diagram type, preference, and scenario type (p<0.05)

User Preference and Performance with UML Interaction Diagrams

During the requirements process it is of key importance that all representations used are clearly understood by those who must use them. Therefore it is essential to ensure that those representations are presented as effectively as possible. User preference is one area that may influence the effectiveness of the representations presented. This paper describes a study that was carried out to explore the relationship between user preference for UML sequence and collaboration diagrams. Results show that participants who preferred sequence diagrams showed improved performance when using sequence diagrams. This was true for preferences expressed both before and after the task. However, participants who did not prefer sequence diagrams showed an overall improved performance for both types of diagram over the group that preferred sequence diagrams

Investigating the Influence of Structure on User Performance with UML Interaction Diagrams

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