Towards online delivery of process-oriented guided inquiry learning techniques in information technology courses

Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a technique used to teach in large lectures and tutorials. It invokes interaction, team building, learning and interest through highly structured group work. Currently, POGIL has only been implemented in traditional classroom settings where all participants are physically present. However, advances in online learning technologies have prompted increases in the popularity of flexible delivery and distance education courses. Therefore, teaching methodologies need to reflect the changing student demographic. This paper describes a preliminary approach for adapting POGIL techniques for use in tertiary courses delivered online. We discuss the current technologies that can be used for teaching online and contrast their suitability for POGIL. A teaching format is presented using Web 2.0 technologies (a wiki, blogs, and social networking) as a starting point for POGIL. We describe how an online third year Information Technology subject adopted these technologies for a condensed implementation of POGIL

A Unique Solution for Designing Low-Cost, Heterogeneous Sensor Networks using a Middleware Integration Platform

Proprietary sensor network systems are typically expensive, rigid and difficult to incorporate technologies from other vendors. When using competing and incompatible technologies, a non-proprietary system is complex to create because it requires significant technical expertise and effort, which can be more expensive than a proprietary product. This paper presents the Sensor Abstraction Layer (SAL) that provides middleware architectures with a consistent and uniform view of heterogeneous sensor networks, regardless of the technologies involved. SAL abstracts and hides the hardware disparities and specificities related to accessing, controlling, probing and piloting heterogeneous sensors. SAL is a single software library containing a stable hardware-independent interface with consistent access and control functions to remotely manage the network. The end-user has near-real-time access to the collected data via the network, which results in a cost-effective, flexible and simplified system suitable for novice users. SAL has been used for successfully implementing several low-cost sensor network systems

A Unique Solution for Designing Low-Cost, Heterogeneous Sensor Networks using a Middleware Integration Platform

Proprietary sensor network systems are typically expensive, rigid and difficult to incorporate technologies from other vendors. When using competing and incompatible technologies, a non-proprietary system is complex to create because it requires significant technical expertise and effort, which can be more expensive than a proprietary product. This paper presents the Sensor Abstraction Layer (SAL) that provides middleware architectures with a consistent and uniform view of heterogeneous sensor networks, regardless of the technologies involved. SAL abstracts and hides the hardware disparities and specificities related to accessing, controlling, probing and piloting heterogeneous sensors. SAL is a single software library containing a stable hardware-independent interface with consistent access and control functions to remotely manage the network. The end-user has near-real-time access to the collected data via the network, which results in a cost-effective, flexible and simplified system suitable for novice users. SAL has been used for successfully implementing several low-cost sensor network systems

Scaling-up process-oriented guided inquiry learning techniques for teaching large information systems courses

Promoting engagement during lectures becomes significantly more challenging as class sizes increase. Therefore, lecturers need to experiment with new teaching methodologies to embolden deep learning outcomes and to develop interpersonal skills amongst students. Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) is a teaching approach that uses highly structured group work during lessons so that students construct content. Each group member takes on a role for which the other group members rely on, and then the group reports back to the class. This paper describes how POGIL was adapted for use in a large first year Information Systems course. Quantitative and qualitative results suggest that students are receptive to POGIL, as the approach creates a relaxed, friendly and trusting community that is typically not present in classes that use a didactic teaching style. We provide a discussion of lessons learned with regard to using POGIL in a large lecture theatre and give recommendations for how to improve interactivity amongst the class

The Clinical User-experience Evaluation (CUE) – a novel method to understand patient's experience in a clinical trial of telemedicine

Research Objective: The use of technology-enabled interventions such as telemedicine to monitor patients from home is on the increase with chronic diseases. Telemedicine technologies are often designed ad-hoc by IT developers but how patients interact and feel about using these technologies in the rollout phase is crucial because the effectiveness of a telemedicine treatment also depends on the interaction pattern between the technology and its users (patients). While clinical trials focus on assessing the effectiveness of telemedicine other study designs are needed to investigate patients' experiences with the technologies. We developed a novel qualitative methodology - the Clinical User-Experience Evaluation (CUE) - to complement a clinical trial, using evaluation methods from Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) discipline. The CUE was implemented within a telemedicine clinical trial of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) in Townsville region in Queensland in Australia, conducted by the TMML (Townsville-Mackay Medicare Locals). The telemedicine trial consisted of a tablet equipped with a built-in app, a glucometer and a sphygmomanometer. Study Design: We developed the CUE as a three-stage method. Stage 1 was a contextual inquiry that was performed in-situ at a patient's home. Patients used the tablet with the think-aloud method during this stage, during regularly scheduled times for using the technology. Stage 2 of CUE was a semi-structured qualitative inquiry to understand patients' experience and expectations including questions that arose during stage 1. Stage 3 was an online survey to verify some of our observations from the previous stages. Population Studied: Nine T2D patients (four females, five males) volunteered to participate in the CUE. They were part of the 210 participants of TMML's telemedicine clinical trial. Principal Findings: Stage 1 found that the technology did not suffice all of the needs of patients; they additionally used pen and paper. Stage 2 found patients' emotions, perceived behavior change of using the technology, reasons to use or not use the technology in future. Stage 3 tested what patients thought about seven of our observations about them. A few important ones were that - patients were divided in their opinion about –contacting nurses about technology related problems, about changing the location of the technology in their homes and that they were informed about expressing their thoughts about the technology design even though the clinical trial was about their medical improvement. However, all patients agreed that talking with a HCI researcher was additionally valuable for them. Interviews with two nurses validated that CUE acquired additional knowledge than those from the trial. Conclusions: Evaluation of telemedicine technologies can benefit through evaluation methods like CUE in addition to clinical trials. Implications for Policy or Practice: Some clinical trials are conducting a patient satisfaction survey only in the end and some additionally conduct qualitative studies. However, these are not done from a HCI perspective. The CUE uses HCI evaluation in a clinical trial understand the patients throughout the trial to find how patients feel and what matters to patients in a telemedicine technology and these findings provide guidance towards the modification of the technology or new technologies of telemedicine

ACADEMAGOGY FOR ENHANCING ADULT ONLINE LEARNER ENGAGEMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The COVID-19 pandemic has escalated the online learning revolution in tertiary education. However, the commonly applied “one-size-fits-all” paradigm poses challenges such as high attrition rates among online adult learners. This paper highlights the potential benefits and limitations of academagogy to enable the personalisation of online learning in terms of fostering better learner engagement

Applying Semi-Automated Hyperparameter Tuning for Clustering Algorithms

When approaching a clustering problem, choosing the right clustering algorithm and parameters is essential, as each clustering algorithm is proficient at finding clusters of a particular nature. Due to the unsupervised nature of clustering algorithms, there are no ground truth values available for empirical evaluation, which makes automation of the parameter selection process through hyperparameter tuning difficult. Previous approaches to hyperparameter tuning for clustering algorithms have relied on internal metrics, which are often biased towards certain algorithms, or having some ground truth labels available, moving the problem into the semi-supervised space. This preliminary study proposes a framework for semi-automated hyperparameter tuning of clustering problems, using a grid search to develop a series of graphs and easy to interpret metrics that can then be used for more efficient domain-specific evaluation. Preliminary results show that internal metrics are unable to capture the semantic quality of the clusters developed and approaches driven by internal metrics would come to different conclusions than those driven by manual evaluation

Reoptimisation strategies for dynamic vehicle routing problems with proximity-dependent nodes

Autonomous vehicles create new opportunities as well as new challenges to dynamic vehicle routing. The introduction of autonomous vehicles as information-collecting agents results in scenarios, where dynamic nodes are found by proximity. This paper presents a novel dynamic vehicle-routing problem variant with proximity-dependent nodes. Here, we introduced a novel variable, detectability, which determines whether a proximal dynamic node will be detected, based on the sight radius of the vehicle. The problem considered is motivated by autonomous weed-spraying vehicles in large agricultural operations. This work is generalisable to many other autonomous vehicle applications. The first step to crafting a solution approach for the problem is to decide when reoptimisation should be triggered. Two reoptimisation trigger strategies are considered—exogenous and endogenous. Computational experiments compared the strategies for both the classical dynamic vehicle routing problem as well as the introduced variant. Experiments used extensive standardised vehicle-routing problem benchmarks with varying degrees of dynamism and geographical node distributions. The results showed that for both the classical problem and the novel variant, an endogenous trigger strategy is better in most cases, while an exogenous trigger strategy is only suitable when both detectability and dynamism are low. Furthermore, the optimal level of detectability was shown to be dependent on the combination of trigger, degree of dynamism, and geographical node distribution, meaning practitioners may determine the required detectability based on the attributes of their specific problem

Coming into focus : educator and counselor perceptions of gay and lesbian youth

Many Aboriginal languages are becoming extinct due to lack of fluent speakers. Computer games offer a way to help teach these languages in a fun and engaging way. However, computer games like all technology objects are based in the culture of their creators. In this paper we describe a project where we co-designed a language application for mobile phone with the Gugu Badhun, an Aboriginal community from north Queensland Australia. The participatory action research process allowed our Aboriginal partners to embed their own culture in the games, leading to a product that supported their goals and aspirations for language renewal. This collaboration has not only provided a way to sustain their language, but also added capacity to their community in ICT development

Enhancing Social Presence while Balancing Teacher and Student Wellbeing

[Extract] The outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020 caused global disruption on an unprecedented scale, impacting every aspect of life including higher education. Within three weeks of the World Health Organisation declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, UNESCO reported that on-campus teaching at schools and universities had completely stopped in 185 countries, impacting the learning of 1.5 billion learners globally (Marinoni et al., 2020). University teachers, regardless of interest, preparation, experience or attitude towards online learning, were ill-equipped and placed in a stressful position, where they had no option but to rapidly upskill and digitally transform their teaching within a period of days or, at most, a couple of weeks to ensure the continuity of student learning (Borowiec et al., 2021; Colclasure et al., 2021; Cutri et al., 2020). This stress was further compounded for some teachers who experienced technology, health, and family issues (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020; Cutri et al., 2020; Ensmann et al., 2021). ... From this disruptive time in higher education, and from the social presence strategies that were deployed during this time, there are many lessons that can be learned. This study sought to investigate how computer science, information systems and information technology teachers at Australian universities can effectively develop sustainable and scalable social presence in online environments. It is anticipated that these strategies are directly applicable to the “new” higher education environment that is emerging in a post-pandemic era. The research questions guiding this study are: 1. How do Australian university information technology educators conceptualise social presence? 2. What strategies do Australian university information technology educators use to establish and maintain social presence in their online classes? 3. What barriers and challenges do Australian university teachers face in developing social presence in online learning environments? We commence this investigation by examining the relevant literature and theoretical frameworks underpinning this study, before discussing the methodology used for this research. Next, we discuss the findings and implications for practice. We conclude with a brief discussion of areas where further research is require