MOBILE COMPUTATION OFFLOADING - FACTORS AFFECTING TECHNOLOGY EVOLUTION

Compared to desktop devices, mobile devices have inherent constraints such as limited processing power, memory, and battery capacity. With the proliferation of resource-hungry applications, researchers are looking for new solutions to address these limitations. One such solution is mobile cloud computing (MCC), which uses cloud infrastructure to enhance the capabilities of mobile devices. This paper focuses on a related, emerging technology called mobile computation offloading (MCO), where the emphasis is on dynamically offloading computation from native applications running on mobile devices to outside surrogates such as cloud infrastructure. We use an exploratory approach to evaluate the business potential of MCO by identifying critical factors that influence the technology evolution of MCO. We base this evaluation on a literature review of MCO and utilize a research framework derived from the existing literature on technology evolution and MCO

A systematic literature review of capstone courses in software engineering

Context: Tertiary education institutions aim to prepare their computer science and software engineering students for working life. While much of the technical principles are covered in lower-level courses, team-based capstone courses are a common way to provide students with hands-on experience and teach soft skills. Objective: This paper explores the characteristics of project-based software engineering capstone courses presented in the literature. The goal of this work is to understand the pros and cons of different approaches by synthesising the various aspects of software engineering capstone courses and related experiences. Method: In a systematic literature review for 2007–2022, we identified 127 articles describing real-world capstone courses. These articles were analysed based on their presented course characteristics and the reported course outcomes. Results: The characteristics were synthesised into a taxonomy consisting of duration, team sizes, client and project sources, project implementation, and student assessment. We found out that capstone courses generally last one semester and divide students into groups of 4–5 where they work on a project for a client. For a slight majority of courses, the clients are external to the course staff and students are often expected to produce a proof-of-concept level software product as the main end deliverable. The courses generally include various forms of student assessment both during and at the end of the course. Conclusions: This paper provides researchers and educators with a classification of characteristics of software engineering capstone courses based on previous research. We also further synthesise insights on the reported course outcomes. Our review study aims to help educators to identify various ways of organising capstones and effectively plan and deliver their own capstone courses. The characterisation also helps researchers to conduct further studies on software engineering capstones.Context: Tertiary education institutions aim to prepare their computer science and software engineering students for working life. While much of the technical principles are covered in lower-level courses, team-based capstone courses are a common way to provide students with hands-on experience and teach soft skills. Objective: This paper explores the characteristics of project-based software engineering capstone courses presented in the literature. The goal of this work is to understand the pros and cons of different approaches by synthesising the various aspects of software engineering capstone courses and related experiences. Method: In a systematic literature review for 2007–2022, we identified 127 articles describing real-world capstone courses. These articles were analysed based on their presented course characteristics and the reported course outcomes. Results: The characteristics were synthesised into a taxonomy consisting of duration, team sizes, client and project sources, project implementation, and student assessment. We found out that capstone courses generally last one semester and divide students into groups of 4–5 where they work on a project for a client. For a slight majority of courses, the clients are external to the course staff and students are often expected to produce a proof-of-concept level software product as the main end deliverable. The courses generally include various forms of student assessment both during and at the end of the course. Conclusions: This paper provides researchers and educators with a classification of characteristics of software engineering capstone courses based on previous research. We also further synthesise insights on the reported course outcomes. Our review study aims to help educators to identify various ways of organising capstones and effectively plan and deliver their own capstone courses. The characterisation also helps researchers to conduct further studies on software engineering capstones.Peer reviewe

Persistence of Time Management Behavior of Students and Its Relationship with Performance in Software Projects

Teachers often preach for their students to start working on assignments early. There is even a fair amount of scientific evidence that starting early is beneficial for learning. In this work, we investigate students’ time management behavior in a second-year project-based software engineering course. In the course, students work on a software project in small groups of four to six students. We study time management from multiple angles. Firstly, we conduct an exploratory factor analysis and study how different time management related behavioral metrics are related to one another, for example, whether individual students’ time management practices in the second-year group project-based course are similar to their earlier time management practices in first-year courses where students work on assignments individually. Understanding how students’ previous time management behavior is manifested in later project-based courses would be beneficial when designing project-based education. Secondly, we study whether students’ time management practices affect the peer-review scores they get from their group members. Lastly, we explore how time management affects course performance. Our findings suggest that time management behavior, even from courses taken in the past, can be used to predict how students perform in future courses.Peer reviewe

Virtual reality as a new teaching method in pharmacy education?

Non peer reviewe

Multi-faceted support for MOOC in programming

ABSTRACT Many massive open online courses (MOOC) have been tremendously popular, causing a stir in academic institutions. The most successful courses have reached tens of thousands of participants. In our MOOC on introductory programming, we aimed to improve distinctive challenges that concern most of the open online courses: allowing and requiring the participants to be more active in their online learning ("flipped-classroom"), demanding them to go deeper than typical CS1 course, and added incentives for participant retention by treating the course as a formal entrance exam to CS/IT degree. Our Extreme Apprenticeship (XA) method for programming education appeared to be successful in an online environment as well

HowULearn and Oodikone as tools for enhancing learning and progress in academic studies

Non peer reviewe

The feasibility of virtual reality for anatomic training during temporal bone dissection course

Funding Information: The study was funded by the Academy of Finland (AD Grant No. 333525), State Research Funding of the Kuopio University Hospital (TT Grant No. 5551865, AD Grant No. 5551853), The Finnish ORL-HNS Foundation (TT Grant No. 20210002 and No. 20220027), North Savo Regional Fund (TT Grant No. 65202121, AD Grant No. 65202054), Finnish Cultural Foundation (TT Grant No. 00211098), and The Finnish Society of Ear Surgery. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Timonen, Iso-Mustajärvi, Linder, Vrzakova, Sinkkonen, Luukkainen, Laitakari, Elomaa and Dietz.Introduction: In recent decades, the lack of educational resources for cadaveric dissections has complicated the hands-on otological surgical training of otorhinolaryngology residents due to the poor availability of cadaver temporal bones, facilities, and limited hours for practice. Since students must gain adequate and patient-safe surgical skills, novel training methods need to be considered. In this proof-of-concept study, a new virtual reality (VR) software is described; this was used during a national temporal bone dissection course where we investigated its feasibility for otological surgical training. Methods: A total of 11 otorhinolaryngology residents attended the annual 2-day hands-on temporal bone dissection course; they were divided into two groups with similar experience levels. Both groups received a lecture on temporal bone anatomy. A total of 22 cadaver temporal bones were harvested for the course; 11 of these bones were imaged by computed tomography. VR software designed for preoperative planning was then used to create 3D models of the imaged temporal bones. Prior to dissection training, the first group underwent a 30-min VR session, where they identified 24 surgically relevant anatomical landmarks on their individual temporal bone. The second group proceeded directly to dissection training. On the second day, the groups were switched. The feasibility of VR training was assessed with three different metrics: surgical performance evaluation using a modified Hopkins objective structured assessment of technical skill (OSATS), time for the surgical exposure of anatomical landmarks, and the user experience collected with a Likert scale questionnaire. Results: No differences were noted in the overall performance between the groups. However, participants with prior VR training had a lower mean time for surgical exposure of anatomical landmarks (antrum 22.09 vs. 27.64 min, p = 0.33; incus 60.00 vs. 76.00, p = 0.03; PSCC 71.83 vs. 88.50, p = 0.17) during dissection training. The participants considered VR beneficial for anatomy teaching, surgery planning, and training. Conclusion: This study demonstrated the feasibility of implementing VR training in a temporal bone dissection course. The VR training demonstrated that even short expert-guided VR sessions are beneficial, and VR training prior to the dissections has a positive effect on the time needed to perform surgical tasks while maintaining comparable performance scores.Peer reviewe

Admitting Students through an Open Online Course in Programming: A Multi-year Analysis of Study Success

Since 2012, part of computer science student body at the University of Helsinki has been selected by using a massively open online version of the same introductory programming course that our freshmen take. In this multi-year study, we compare study success between students accepted through the online course (MOOC intake) and students accepted through the traditional entrance exam and high school matriculation exam based intake (normal intake). Our findings indicate that the MOOC intake perform better in computer science studies when looking at completed credits and grade point average, but there is no difference when considering other courses. Retention among the MOOC intake is better than among the normal intake. Additionally, students in the MOOC intake are more likely to complete their capstone project and Bachelor's thesis in the studied time-frame. However, the MOOC intake makes the already skewed gender balance more pronounced.Peer reviewe

Kiinteistöinvestointien palautusvastuiden seurannan ke-hittäminen Realia Oy:ssä

Opinnäytetyö toteutettiin Realia-kirjanpitokeskuksen toimeksiantona. Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli kehittää kirjanpitäjän työskentelyä kiinteistöinvestointien ALV-palautusvastuiden laskennan osalta. Tähän tarkoitukseen laadittiin tarkistuslaskelmaan soveltuva Excel-taulukko. Opinnäytetyön teoriaosuus jakautuu kahteen osaan. Ensimmäinen näistä käsittelee toimeksiantajan näkökulmasta arvonlisäverollisuutta kiinteistömaailmassa, ja teorian toisessa osassa keskitytään uudisrakentamisen arvolisäverotukseen sekä siitä syntyvään palautusvastuuseen. Opinnäytetyön tutkimusosuuden vaiheet ja toimeksiannon toteutus esitetään luvussa neljä. Kehitystyö on toteutettu laadullisena case-tutkimuksena, jossa toimeksiantajalle luotiin palautusvastuiden tarkistuslaskelmaan Excel-taulukko. Taulukko toteutet-tiin toimeksiantajan materiaalien ja kirjanpitäjien haastatteluiden pohjalta. Palautusvastuutaulukko on otettu käyttöön Realian kirjanpitokeskuksessa. Taulukko toimii hyvänä apuvälineenä kirjanpitäjillä ja on helpottanut heidän jokapäiväistä arkeaan. Taulukko on toimeksiantajan ohjeistuksen mukainen ja täyttää verohallituksen ohjeistuksen palautusvastuiden laskennassa.This thesis was implemented as a commission from Realia Group Oy. The aim of the thesis was to improve the accountants’ work related to the calculation of the liability to refund value-added tax on real estate investments. An Excel spread-sheet suitable for a check calculation was created for this purpose. The thesis is divided into two theoretical sections. The first of them deals with the value-added tax in the real estate business from the commissioner’s point of view. The second section focuses on the value-added tax on new construction and on the resulting liability to refund it. The phases of the thesis study and the summary of the assignment are presented in Chapter four. The work was carried out as a qualitative case study, in which an Excel spread-sheet was created for the commissioner for the check calculation of liabilities to refund VAT. The spreadsheet is based on the commissioner’s materials and interviews with the accountants. The spreadsheet for the liability to refund VAT has been taken in use at Realia’s accounting center. It serves as a good tool for the accountants and has facilitated their everyday work. The Excel spreadsheet is in accordance with the instructions of the commissioner and meets the Tax Authority's guideline for calculating the liability to refund value added tax