bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Evolving Road Map: Student Perceptions and Contributions to Graphic Organizers within an Academic Wiki
Authors: Moshirnia Andrew
Published: October 2017

Though the number of collaborative websites, or wikis, continues to grow, few studies have examined the role of graphics in a successful wiki design. This study examines the development of graphic organizers within an academic wiki over a period of 8 months. Wikis traditionally rely on a text-only approach to allow for user flexibility. However, this study found that the ability to easily add links to wiki navigation menus resulted in sprawl. Introduction of polished graphic organizers had a significant effect on user participation and their perception of the wiki.
Assessment of School Information System Utilization in the UAE Primary Schools
Authors: M. Abu-Samaha Ala , Shishakly Rima
Published: October 2017

This paper presents an assessment of School Information Systems (SIS) Utilization in the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) primary schools through a holistic descriptive approach that involves explaining, studying and analyzing the current technical status of the schools’ SIS. To do so, the researchers used a series of case studies (documents analysis, questionnaires and interviews) of a number of primary schools representing the educational zones of the UAE to acquire an understanding of SIS level of utilization. According to the research results, the majority of primary schools have computerized their administrative activities at different levels via the Ministry of Education’s suggested system or individually procured systems. Though, the use of Information and Communication Technologies, including SIS, is in its initial stage despite the adopted strategy by the UAE government to accelerate the effective utilization of educational management and automation technologies in the educational institutions and the Ministry of Education itself.
Requirements Elicitation - What's Missing?
Authors: Davey Bill , Cope Chris
Published: October 2017

In this paper we show that interviews between IT consultants and clients are considered best practice in terms of methods for eliciting IS requirements as part of IS development projects. The process of conducting successful conversations with clients as part of requirements elicitation interviews is not well understood. The paper reports a literature survey which established current understanding. To date this understanding has been achieved through research which: considered conversations as black boxes; proposed and implemented treatments to be applied by consultants; and then measured the quality and quantity of the requirements elicited. The treatments have not been successful as poor requirements elicitation continues to be a major problem in IS development. Our analysis of current understanding indicated that consultants’ experiences of the nature of conversations with clients and approach to conducting conversations have not been studied. It would seem imperative to look inside the black box of consultants’ experiences of conducting conversations with clients if improvements to the outcomes of requirements elicitation are to be made. A study is proposed which aims to examine variation in how consultants experience requirements elicitation conversations. Through analyzing the variation in the light of current best practice it is aimed to identify the critical aspects of successfully conceived and conducted conversations. These critical aspects can then be used in IS education and practitioner training programs.
Identification of Design Patterns for Mobile Services with J2ME
Authors: Narsoo Jeetendre , Mohamudally Nawaz
Published: October 2017

The functional approach to software development has been used for years and new methodologies have evolved, including, object-oriented approach. Objects are sharing an important part in the software business. They have become the building blocks of many systems whether commercial applications, real-time applications or embedded systems applications. As objects represent an abstraction of the real world, systems modelled using objects can be easily read and interpreted. Design patterns have been used on desktop systems. Today, the trend is towards building applications on small hand-held devices like mobile phones, PDAs or pocket PCs. Due to the limitations of hand-held devices, applications should be optimised and design pattern is the right choice to cater for this need. In this paper, the design pattern chosen for mobile services using J2ME is the One-function structure design patterns. Although it resembles the behavioural design pattern, the One-function structure name has been given because the pattern is made up of other classes and objects and is performing a single task. The patterns have been used in two applications with basic management functions namely add, edit, erase and search and the result obtained proves their re-usability and reliability.
Warranty and the Risk of Misinforming: Evaluation of the Degree of Acceptance
Authors: Christozov Dimitar , Chukova Stefanka , Mateev Plamen
Published: October 2017

Nowadays the product warranty plays increasingly important role in any business transaction. It is a valuable attribute of the product and it is used extensively in marketing and advertising. It is a tool to enforce the competing power of the producer on the market place. There is a vast literature on the product warranty related to the product malfunctioning. In this study we address another type of warranty - the warranty of misinforming, which of great importance in the light of indirect business communication, as in e-commerce. Here, we extend previous studies, aiming to provide a more realistic model for quantifying the risk of misinforming caused by information asymmetry. We propose an approach for evaluating the degree of acceptance of the product with respect to individual tasks, which previously was assumed to be a known constant.
The Influence of Classification on World View and Epistemology
Authors: Fadaie Gholamreza
Published: October 2017

Worldview as a kind of man's look towards the world of reality has a severe influence on his classification of knowledge. In other words one may see in classification of knowledge the unity as well as plurality. This article deals with the fact that how classification takes place in man's epistemological process. Perception and epistemology are mentioned as the key points here. Philosophers are usually classifiers and their point of views forms the way they classify things and concepts. Relationship and how one looks at it in shaping the classification scheme is critical. The classifications which have been introduced up to now have had several models. They represent the kind of looking at, or point of view of their founders to the world. Aristotle, as a philosopher as well as an encyclopedist, is one of the great founders of knowledge classification. Afterwards the Islamic scholars followed him while some few rejected his model and made some new ones. If we divide all classifications according to their roots we may define them as human based classification, theology based classification, knowledge based classification, materialistic based classification such as Britannica's classification, and fact based classification. Tow broad approaches have been defined in this article: static and dynamic. The static approach refers to the traditional approaches and the dynamic one refers to the eight way of looking toward objects in order to realize them. The structure of classification has had its influence on epistemology, too. If the first cut on knowledge tree is fully defined, the branches would usually be consistent with it.
Selecting an Appropriate Publication Outlet: A Comprehensive Model of Journal Selection Criteria for Researchers in a Broad Range of Academic Disciplines
Authors: V. Knight Linda , A. Steinbach Theresa
Published: October 2017

Building upon previously published articles from 18 different disciplines, this research delves into the area of how academics inform one another, addressing the issue of how academic scholars can determine the optimum journal for submission of their research. A comprehensive model of the journal selection process is developed, including 39 detailed considerations spread over three major categories: likelihood of timely acceptance; potential impact of the manuscript (journal credibility, prestige, visibility); and philosophical and ethical issues. Specific guidelines are given for evaluating such concepts as manuscript-journal “fit,” journal prestige, and journal visibility. The graphical model developed here assists authors in comparing journal alternatives and provides new researchers with insights into how the three primary journal selection categories are weighed and balanced. In addition, less commonly understood concepts, such as Time to Publication, Review Cycle Time Delay, and Publication Time Delay, are identified and named, and their relationships are defined in this article. On a broader level, this research demonstrates that scholars across disciplines have substantial common interests with respect to journal publishing, that the ties that unite academics seeking to publish are strong, and that the potential for future crossdisciplinary research in the area of how academics inform one another is correspondingly robust.
A Student Project to Qualify Underprivileged Adolescents
Authors: Disterer Georg , Fels Friedrich
Published: October 2017

The objective of this student project was for the students to develop, conduct, and supervise a training course for basic work place applications (word processing and business graphics). Students were responsible for the planning, organizing and the teaching of the course. As participants, underprivileged adolescents took part in order to learn the handling of IT applications and therefore, improve their job skills and have a better chance to get into employment. Therefore the adolescents do the role of trainees at the course. Our students worked with a population that is continually overlooked by the field. As a result, the students trained to design and implement training courses, exercised to manage projects and increased their social responsibility and awareness concerning the way of life and living conditions of other young people. The underprivileged adolescents learned to use important business applications and increased their job skills and job chances. The overall design of our concept required extensive resources to supervise and to steer the students and the adolescents. The lecturers had to teach and to counsel the students and had to be on “stand-by” just in case they were needed to solve critical situations between the two groups of young people.
ICTs and Network Relations: Exploring Knowledge Sharing and Coordination in Distributed Organizations
Authors: Hermanrud Inge , Oddvar Sornes Jan
Published: October 2017

This study of media use and knowledge sharing within distributed organizations addresses two questions: (1) How do people combine different ICTs (information and communication technologies) when they engage in a professional knowledge-sharing network? (2) How are combinations of ICTs used when people engage in frequent as opposed to infrequent relations? Existing research exploring the role of ICTs in distributed organizational settings has tended to focus on single media use and the importance of social capital. As a result, the characteristics and consequences of multiple media use have been largely ignored. Our study reveals that people combine different ICTs all the time, but they do so relatively less often in the knowledge-sharing network, where they rely more on official channels. We also found that frequent and successful knowledge sharing correlates with each individual’s willingness, and ability, to communicate their knowledge assets freely.
Performance of Simple and Complex Computerized Learning Tasks: Division of Attention vs. Division of Labor
Authors: Klein Joseph
Published: October 2017

The need to divide attention in order to deal with information flowing in from a number of sources is observable in many work settings. Although most people can perform several simple activities concurrently, such as eating and watching television (Sharon, 1997), making simultaneous decisions is difficult (Pashler & Johnston, 1998). For the majority, task overload causes errors in performance (Girard, 2007), a decline in the quality of treatment (Ruthruff et al., 2001), and longer reaction time (Levy et al., 2006). The few who cope efficiently under such circumstances employ different cognitive strategies. Teamwork is one way of managing multiple demands. Group work makes it possible to deal with larger amounts of information and to generate a variety of ideas as well as to minimize faulty conclusions. On the other hand, individuals make speedier and better decisions, and are not subject to the tensions of interplay (Davis and Toseland, 1987). The literature offers little information on methods of testing the conditions under which tasks should be handled by one agent or a team. The educational project described here was conducted comparing efficiency of performance of a series of tasks by individuals and small groups. 116 participants, ranging in age from high school level through holders of Masters' degrees, 58 women and the same number of men, were presented with a computer game based on educational software. Participants were instructed to manipulate a tracker by means of the keyboard in order to contact a target moving randomly on the screen. The game was arranged in five levels of difficulty. A comparison was made of the speed in which objectives were attained when performed individually and when divided among groups of two to four partners, controlling for the type of coordination, cognitive style and additional background variables. Cases of expedient and inexpedient division of labor were identified, as were factors affecting feasibility. Among the latter were the size of the simultaneous task load, complexity level, number of participants, and the intensity of coordination required among them.
Ground Rules in Team Projects: Findings from a Prototype System to Support Students
Authors: Whatley Janice
Published: October 2017

Student team project work in higher education is one of the best ways to develop team working skills at the same time as learning about the subject matter. As today’s students require the freedom to learn at times and places that better match their lifestyles, there is a need for any support for team project work to be also available online. Team working requires that the task roles as well as the maintenance roles are taken into consideration, in that social interactions are just as important as carrying out the tasks of the project. The literature indicates that groupware, whilst effective in supporting the task roles, provides limited support for the maintenance roles of team working in the work place. As groupware was not specifically designed for student team working, it provides limited support for maintenance roles in student team projects. Virtual learning environments similarly provide support for completing the task roles. Many researchers have found that students experience difficulties with their team project work that reduce the perceived benefits of working in a team. It is proposed that helping students to agree on ground rules at the start of a project will improve team cohesion. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a prototype system to help students to agree on ground rules as they start their team projects. The system was tested with teams of students carrying out information systems team projects, using an interpretive case study research approach. In this case the teams had the additional problem of being composed of students from across three years of their undergraduate degree programmes, so they did not always have prior knowledge of each other’s preferences. We were trying to establish how useful this software tool would be to these student teams, in starting their project work. The findings showed that some of the student teams did find the ground rules function useful, but the team leaders were the ones who most appreciated its potential. The students may use the outputs in very different ways, but even just looking at the ground rules appeared to get team members thinking about their expectations for team working. Student teams do not often start by thinking about norms, but this study shows a positive benefit of encouraging teams to agree on ground rules at the start of their projects.
IT Systems Development: An IS Curricula Course that Combines Best Practices of Project Management and Software Engineering
Authors: Tubaishat Abdallah
Published: October 2017

Most computing programs still devote little time to software life cycle development, software processes, quality issues, team skills, and other areas of software engineering essential to effective commercial software development. A teaching project was developed and implemented by accommodating knowledge and practices that are applicable to most projects in the area of project management and in the area of software development to Information Systems (IS) students. This approach is relevant to IS model curricula and is in accordance with IS2002.10 project management and practice course guidelines. The rationale behind this approach is to overcome the relative lack of experience of IS students in many aspects of project management and software development by introducing them how to plan, organize, and control software development projects, and to help students strengthen good software engineering practices prior to entering IT industry and become more efficient. We present results of a case study based on a survey conducted in an IT Systems Development course. Survey results show that including topics on project management and Software Engineering best practices lab into an IT Systems Development course helped students (a) deal with non-technical issues of software projects, (b) develop their ability to communicate clearly with team members, and (c) overcome their lack of experience in many aspects of project management and software development.
University Enhancement System using a Social Networking Approach: Extending E-learning
Authors: Awodele Oludele , Idowu Sunday , Anjorin Omotola , Adedire Adebunmi , Akpore Victoria
Published: October 2017

The proliferation of e-leaming systems in both learning institutions and companies has contributed a lot to the acquisition and application of new skills. With the growth in technology, especially the internet, e-learning systems are only getting better and having more impact on the users. This paper suggests an approach to e-learning that emphasizes active and open collaboration, and also the integration of other services that aid or contribute to the learning process. This approach aims at having an extended and enhanced learning environment that is tied or connected to other systems within the immediate environment or otherwise. We illustrate the possibility and usability of such system in a university, such that other important administrative systems are integrated into the e-learning system, and collaboration is open to both academic and non-academic personnel’s.
The Business Professional Doctorate as an Informing Channel: A Survey and Analysis
Authors: Grandon Gill T. , Hoppe Uwe
Published: October 2017

Although growing in popularity in other countries, the business professional doctorate has yet to gain traction in the U.S. Such programs, intended to offer advanced disciplinary and research training to individuals who later plan to apply that training to employment in industry, are frequently seen to be inferior to their academically-focused Ph.D. program counterparts. Furthermore, if the sole purpose of a doctorate is to develop individuals focused on producing scholarly research articles, that assessment may well be correct. We argue, however, that such a narrowly focused view of the purpose of doctoral programs is self-defeating; by exclusively focusing on scholarly research and writings, we virtually guarantee that our research will never make it into practice. The paper begins by identifying a variety of types of doctoral programs that exist globally and placing these in a conceptual framework. We then present a detailed case study of the information systems (IS) doctoral programs offered in Osnabrueck, Germany—where as many as 90% of candidates choose careers in industry in preference to academia. Finally, we propose— supported using both conceptual arguments drawn from the study of complex informing and observed examples—that the greatest benefit of business professional doctorates may be the creation of enduring informing channels between practice and industry. Presented in this light, the business professional doctorate should be viewed as an essential part of the broader research ecology, rather than as a weak substitute for the disciplinary Ph.D.
Mentoring Tradeoffs: Breaking into the World of Academe
Authors: Terry Kathleen , DeMichiell Robert , Williams Clarence
Published: October 2017

Much has been written in recent years on the subject of mentoring and many universities, organizations, and individuals have rushed to embrace the concept without thinking through what it means for the university, organization, mentor, and, most importantly, the mentee. This article is an examination of the various factors involved in the mentoring process. Knowledge gained, collaboration, situational learning, and social networking are discussed as key components of the mentoring process. As information was collected for this article, some of these comments were derived from extensive experience over several decades and more recently, comments from a recent professional business person who has just acquired a doctorate. For the seasoned academic professor, it was a time to reflect on the major issues of mentoring and to organize the discussion for this most important aspect of education, particularly focused on higher education. In the latter case, the purpose of gaining the terminal degree was to enter into academe, start a new career, and bring a wealth of business acumen and experience to the classroom for the ultimate benefit of students.
The Adoption of Automatic Teller Machines in Nigeria: An Application of the Theory of Diffusion of Innovation
Authors: Olatokun Wole , Igbinedion Louisa
Published: October 2017

This study tested the attributes of the theory of diffusion of innovation empirically, using Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) as the target innovation. The study was situated in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. The population comprised banks customers in Jos who used ATMs. The sampling frame technique was applied, and 14 banks that had deployed ATMs were selected. Cluster sampling was employed to select respondents for the study. Data collection instrument was a structured questionnaire administered to 600 respondents of which 428 were returned giving 71.3% return rate. Principal Factor Analysis, and Multiple Regression were the analytical techniques used. The demographic characteristics of the respondents revealed that most of them were students and youths. From the factor analysis, it was revealed that the respondents believed in their safety in using ATM; that ATMs were quite easy to use and fit in with their way of life; that what they observed about ATMs convinced them to use it and that ATM was tried out before they use it. The constructs Relative Advantage, Complexity, Compatibility, and Trialability were all found to have a significant impact on the Attitude towards ATM, which in turn had a significant impact on the Intention to use it. Relative Advantage and Compatibility had almost the same weight of impact on Attitude; while Observability had the highest impact on attitude. To increase the diffusion of ATMs, it was recommended that banks should ensure enhanced salience of ATM to customers’ needs, greater compatibility of ATM to customers banking norms and lifestyle, less complex and easy to use system and opportunity for adopters to experiment with the system before using ATMs.
Agent-Based Advert Placement System for Broadcasting Stations
Authors: Vincent Olufunke , Folorunso Olusegun , Akinde Ayodele
Published: October 2017

Adverts are used to make services and products known to its likely users or consumers in a very easy and dynamic way. These have become one major medium which business, organization or establishment could function effectively in a competitive environment. Manufacturers and organizations use adverts as a means of reaching their intending customers, as regards the goods and services they make available. Adverts therefore serve as agents between organizations and customers. In this paper, a mobile agent based model that would help its users to place timely and effective adverts is described. This is done to aid advert placement in television stations and it is implemented using Nigerian Television stations as case study. Agent moves from one host to another to make enquiry and place adverts. This model is designed with the assumption that each of the host grants access to the mobile agents.
Modeling an Assessing Rubric: Reflections of Red Ink
Authors: Joseph Skovira Robert
Published: October 2017

The paper presents a rubric to be used in evaluating student’s efforts in a course whose subject matter is four framing conceptions: global, economic, social cultural, and ethical. The course is a requirement for an ABET accredited program. These are given as the grounds for constructing the rubric. The paper also reports on the course’s practices: reports.
Novel Phonetic Name Matching Algorithm with a Statistical Ontology for Analysing Names Given in Accordance with Thai Astrology
Authors: Snae Chakkrit , Brueckner Michael
Published: October 2017

Since antiquity names have been very important to people. Naming from the past to the present has been continuously developed and has evolved into a variety of patterns. Each pattern has its own rules depending on local belief and language that has been developed until the present. In many cultures naming is not only important because every individual needs to have a name but have helpful names or names with a good sound. The basic goal of naming in Thai society is to provide a good fortune and progress of living. Most Thai parents try to choose names they feel will bring good luck to their offspring and to the family. The choice of appropriate names is based on old rules of Thai astrology according to weekday of birth, and the rules of available letters can influence the destiny of the individuals as is described in Thai astrology, since it uses the day of birth as an input. Thais can change their own given names as often as they want in order to achieve a good fortune. The current web based systems for Thai names are static web pages and cannot deal with the problem of helping change a name to a good name with similar sound.
A Descriptive Algorithm for Sobel Image Edge Detection
Authors: Vincent Olufunke , Folorunso Olusegun
Published: October 2017

Image edge detection is a process of locating the edge of an image which is important in finding the approximate absolute gradient magnitude at each point I of an input grayscale image. The problem of getting an appropriate absolute gradient magnitude for edges lies in the method used. The Sobel operator performs a 2-D spatial gradient measurement on images. Transferring a 2-D pixel array into statistically uncorrelated data set enhances the removal of redundant data, as a result, reduction of the amount of data is required to represent a digital image. The Sobel edge detector uses a pair of 3 x 3 convolution masks, one estimating gradient in the x-direction and the other estimating gradient in y-direction. The Sobel detector is incredibly sensitive to noise in pictures, it effectively highlight them as edges. Hence, Sobel operator is recommended in massive data communication found in data transfer.
Innovation and Scaling up Agile Software Engineering Projects
Authors: Ramakrishnan Sita
Published: October 2017

Software Engineering capstone projects have been running successfully since 2002 for the final year software engineering (SE) students of the Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) Program at Monash University, accredited by Engineers Australia and Australian Computer Society. Agile methods are being increasingly adopted in the industry. In this paper, we describe the objectives of SE capstone projects and report on how our innovative projects for supporting the software engineering projects in undergraduate programs at Monash University have evolved and have been scaled up to support agile SE capstone projects. We detail the evolution from our early innovative software engineering projects in the mid 1990s that have served as catalysts for more innovation in the early 2000, and for scaling up agile SE projects with increasing central technical infrastructure support from the School. More recently, we have adapted our approach with a combination of open-source and commercial tools under academic licence for developing and deploying these projects effectively with agile distributed teams. The paper concludes with a discussion on lessons learnt from our innovative projects in the mid 1990s and from the evolution in scaling up to agile practices for the SE capstone projects from 2002-2008.
Regaining the ‘Object’ of Learning Objects
Authors: Mogharreban Namdar , Guggenheim Dave
Published: October 2017

Learning objects were to bring a seismic shift to the field of computer-based instruction by introducing transportability and reusability. Supposedly outfitted with the concepts taken from object-oriented (OO) design, learning objects have long promised dramatic savings of time and money in course and curricula development. However, they have failed to deliver the return on investment that seems a natural extension of their existence, in large part because the conceptual mechanisms adopted by OO design for transportability and reusability are lacking in learning objects. Object-oriented software development, first discovered in the 1960s, had ushered in a new era of programmatic coding and design by the 1990s. Instead of thinking in terms of “verbs,” or the processes that act upon information, developers could directly conceive of “nouns,” or the objects that define the world around us, and provide these objects with real-world attributes. These transportable and reusable objects would then possess a library of ready-to-use actions that provide both a rich feature set as well as isolation for the user from implementation complexity. Software languages designed with support for such concepts as classes, methods, instantiation, overloading, overriding, inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation, achieved this tectonic shift in computer engineering and resulted in dramatic improvements in reliability, reusability, and cost.
A Strategic Review of Existing Mobile Agent-Based Intrusion Detection Systems
Authors: Onashoga Adebukola , Akinde Adebayo , Sodiya Adesina
Published: October 2017

Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) is defined as a component that analyses system and user operations in computer and network systems in search of activities considered undesirable from security perspectives. Applying mobile agent (MA) to intrusion detection design is a recent development and it is aimed at effective intrusion detection in distributed environment. From the literature, it is clear that most MA-based IDS that are available are not quite effective because their time to detection is high and detect limited intrusions.This paper proposes a way of classifying a typical IDS and then strategically reviews the existing mobile agent-based IDSs focusing on each of the categories of the classification, for example architecture, mode of data collection, the techniques for analysis, and the security of these intelligent codes. Their strengths and problems are stated wherever applicable. Furthermore, suggested ways of improving on current MA-IDS designs are presented in order to achieve an efficient mobile agent-based IDS for future security of distributed network.
Administration and Faculty Perceptions (in an Online Post-Secondary Institution) of Whether Students Are Purely Students Customers or Both
Authors: Barta Marguerite
Published: October 2017

This paper explores whether students are customers, students, or both students and customers. The following are discussed: How do administrative members (deans, assistant deans, chairs, assistant chairs), full-time faculty, and adjunct faculty members within an online post-secondary learning institution perceive their students’ status within the organization? Are the students purely students, or are the students also customers? What paradigm exists within the minds of the administrative members and faculty members? If the students are purely students, then is the online post-secondary learning institution purely a function of scholarly excellence? Conversely, if the students are customers, then is the online post-secondary learning institution predominantly a business that is selling a product and must go to great lengths to keep the e-customer happy? What are the perceptions of administration and faculty? Are the students purely students, or are the students also customers? Furthermore, if the online post-secondary learning institution recognizes that there are, indeed, customers, is it sure that the students are the customers? Perhaps some administrative members and faculty members consider the customers to be the final consumers of the product, so consideration of whether the students are purely students or whether the students are customers is moot.
Evaluation of a Suite of Metrics for Component Based Software Engineering (CBSE)
Authors: Narasimhan Lakshmi , Parthasarathy Prapanna , Lal Das Manik
Published: October 2017

Component-Based Software Engineering (CBSE) has shown significant prospects in rapid production of large software systems with enhanced quality, and emphasis on decomposition of the engineered systems into functional or logical components with well-defined interfaces used for communication across the components. In this paper, a series of metrics proposed by various researchers have been analyzed, evaluated and benchmarked using several large-scale publicly available software systems. A systematic analysis of the values for various metrics has been carried out and several key inferences have been drawn from them. A number of useful conclusions have been drawn from various metrics evaluations, which include inferences on complexity, reusability, testability, modularity and stability of the underlying components. The inferences are argued to be beneficial for CBSE-based software development, integration and maintenance.
Usability Issues in Mobile-Wireless Information Systems
Authors: Gafni Ruti
Published: October 2017

Usability is one of the characteristics that compose the multi-dimension concept of information systems' quality. Technology improvements enable the building of information systems to be used "any place, any time", through mobile handheld devices and wireless networks. Usability is threatened by the use of mobile-wireless information systems, especially because of the use of small devices with tiny screens, the difficulty to operate and the use during mobility. Therefore, there is a need to measure the usability characteristic, in order to define the level of quality of such information systems. This paper introduces the definitions of usability, and presents the definition of new metrics, defined in order to measure the quality level of usability of mobile-wireless information systems. These metrics were empirically validated using four different experiments, based on handheld devices.
Compiler-Aided Run-Time Performance Speed-Up in Super-Scalar Processor
Authors: Pelleh Moshe
Published: October 2017

In our world, where most systems become embedded systems, the approach of designing embedded systems is still frequently similar to the approach of designing organic systems (or not embedded systems). An organic system, like a personal computer or a work station, must be able to run any task submitted to it at any time (with certain constrains depending on the machine). Consequently, it must have a sophisticated general purpose Operating System (OS) to schedule, dispatch, maintain and monitor the tasks and assist them in special cases (particularly communication and synchronization between them and with external devices). These OSs require an overhead on the memory, on the cache and on the run time. Moreover, generally they are task oriented rather than machine oriented; therefore the processor's throughput is penalized. On the other hand, an embedded system, like an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), executes always the same software application. Frequently it is a small or medium size system, or made up of several such systems. Many small or medium size embedded systems, with limited number of tasks, can be scheduled by our proposed hardware architecture, based on the Motorola 500MHz MPC7410 processor, enhancing its throughput and avoiding the software OS overhead, complexity, maintenance and price. Encouraged by our experimental results, we shall develop a compiler to assist our method. In the meantime we will present here our proposal and the experimental results.
Is there a Core Curriculum across Higher Education Doctoral Programs?
Authors: Card Karen , R Chambers Crystal , Freeman Jr. Sydney
Published: October 2017

Currently the study of higher education has been referred to as a multidisciplinary field. Consensus is continuing to evolve regarding both what is considered the appropriate coursework and the foundational knowledgebase of this field. The study of higher education is maturing and has the potential to transition from being seen as a field to being respected as an academic discipline. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the status of the core curriculum in higher education doctoral programs from the perspective of program directors with programs that required the completion of standardized coursework prior to beginning a dissertation. We used online survey analytic techniques to query program directors about their EdD and PhD programs in higher education, credit hours, and curricular content. Our study confirms previous work finding that there is common agreement in the subject matter areas of organization, leadership, administration, and history. What our work adds is that there is a growing consensus among higher education doctoral programs about the position of higher education law and finance in the curricular core. In addition, we find there is a growing interest in public policy and community colleges over time, with a majority of EdD programs including instruction in these areas. Nevertheless, majoritarian agreement does not meet at a level wherein consensus can be inferred, especially within PhD programs where requirements are more varied across programs. In addition, while there is an increasing trend in the inclusion of multiculturalism in higher education doctoral programming, multiculturalism is not currently part of higher education’s core. We conclude with research and practice implications for doctoral programs in higher education as a field of study.
Discourse on Leadership and Gender Awareness in Higher Education Publications: A View through the Lens of Feminist Phase Theory
Authors: E. Hyle Adrienne , M. Delmas Peggy , L. Krumm Bernita
Published: October 2017

Using Feminist Phase Theory (FPT) as our analytical framework, we studied the status of gender awareness and influence in higher education leadership development trends in four premier higher education journals for the years 2008, 2011, and 2014. Our analysis was accomplished through the review of articles and book reviews published in two US and two international journals: Higher Education (Netherlands), Higher Education Quarterly (UK), Journal of Higher Education (US), and The Review of Higher Education (US). Study results indicated progress toward a multifocal set of perspectives in which gender was not an issue; rather other concerns such as social justice or diversity were the focus.

Data also indicated that while gender was no longer a specific focus of the literature, it was still an underlying concern. Gender and leadership are still being examined, intentionally or not. An additional finding revealed through the study of these journals is a lack of research about leadership in higher education, particularly in the US. A focus on understanding leadership does not appear to be a priority among this higher education community.
Review of “Building Academic Leadership Capacity: A Guide to Best Practices”
Authors: B. Holyoke Laura
Published: October 2017

Book Review
Integrating Content and English-Language Learning in a Middle Eastern Information Technology College: Investigating Faculty Perceptions, Practices and Capabilities
Authors: Williams Norman , Beachboard John , Bohning Robert
Published: October 2017

The expanding role of English as an international lingua franca has had considerable effects on higher education (HE) provision around the world. English has become the medium of choice for African HE, and its position as a medium of instruction in the Europe and Asia is strengthening (Coleman, 2006; HU, 2009). English-medium tertiary education is also commonplace in the Middle East including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the context of the present study, where the vast majority of courses at university-level are conducted in English (Gallagher, 2011). The increasing use of English-medium programs presents particular challenges for content-area faculty who are in effect called upon to provide disciplinary instruction to students who may not be adequately language proficient. Furthermore, discipline-specific faculty may find themselves sharing responsibility to further develop their students’ English language proficiency. Information technology related schools face unique challenges. A significant majority of IT faculty come from computer science/engineering backgrounds and speak English as a second or third language. Most courses emphasize the development of technical skills and afford relatively few opportuni-ties for writing assignments. While exploratory in nature, the study proposes to identify and evaluate practices that can help IT colleges better develop their students’ proficiency in English.
External Variables as Antecedents of Users Perception in Virtual Library Usage
Authors: I. Akinbobola Olusola , A. Adeleke Akinniyi
Published: October 2017

Several studies extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by examining the antecedents of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use; the present study looks at demographic aspect of external variables in virtual library use among undergraduate students. The purpose of this study is to identify the demographic factors sex, level of study, cumulative grade point average, and computer knowledge that act as external factors that are antecedents of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. The university management makes a large investment in the provision of a virtual library; investigation of the virtual library acceptance by students is important. TAM and theory of reasoned action (TRA) are utilised to theoretically test a model for the extension and to predict virtual library acceptance and usage. In a survey study, data was collected by using a structured questionnaire given to 394 randomly selected participants in a private university. Data were analysed by Pearson product moment correlation, multiple and hierarchical regression. The result of the study is consistent with TAM factors examined for explaining virtual library usage. The extension model accounts for 2.5% variance in perceived usefulness, 2.1% in perceived ease of use, 11.7% - 15.2% on intention to use and 7.2% on actual use of virtual library. Implications of the findings of the study on user’s virtual library training are discussed.
Management of Knowledge, Innovation and Performance in SMEs
Authors: E Valdez Luis , García-Pérez de Lema Domingo , Maldonado-Guzmán Gonzalo
Published: October 2017

For more than two decades, knowledge management (KM) has been examined in the literature and considered a basic factor in business management. The purpose of this article is to explore the ability of knowledge management to achieve small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) innovation and business performance. Data analysis procedures of PLS-SEM was used to analyze the data based on responses from the owners of 903 companies in industry, construction, services, and trade in the Region of Murcia (Spain) through a self-directed survey. The results show that KM has a significant influence on innovation but the influence on the level of performance of SMEs is insignificant. However, training employees as part of KM showed no significant influence on innovation in SMEs. It is important for leaders and managers to have greater openness to changes in the implementation and proper execution of KM. This work contributes primarily to the development of the literature on knowledge management and its relationship with innovation and business performance.
The Flipped Classroom: Two Learning Modes that Foster Two Learning Outcomes
Authors: M. W. Ng Eugenia
Published: October 2017

The study involved student teachers enrolled in early childhood teaching at a teacher training institute in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Seventy-four students participated in flipped classroom activities during their first semester of study. Students were told to learn from online videos related to using image editing software in their own time and pace prior to the next class. When they met in class, they were asked to apply their recently acquired editing knowledge to edit an image of their own choice related to the theme of their group project. At the end of the activity, students were asked to complete an online questionnaire. It was found that students had rated all five questions relating to generic skills highly, with self-study skills rated the highest. They particularly enjoyed the flexibility of learning on their own time and pace as a benefit of the flipped classroom. Data collected from students’ project pages show they had used average of 3.22 editing features for the theme images for their project. Most groups had inserted text followed by using the filter function. It is possible that these two functions are more noticeable than other editing functions. In conclusion, students were able to apply their self-learnt knowledge in a real-life situation and they had also developed their generic skills via the flipped classroom pedagogy.
CAPTCHA – Security affecting User Experience
Authors: Gafni Ruti , Nagar Idan
Published: October 2017

CAPTCHA - Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart - is a test with the aim to distinguish between malicious automatic software and real users in the era of Cyber security threats. Various types of CAPTCHA tests were developed, in order to address accessibility while implementing security. This research focuses on the users’ attitudes and experiences related to use of the different kinds of tests. A questionnaire accompanied by experiencing five different CAPTCHA tests was performed among 212 users. Response times for each test and rate of success were collected automatically. The findings demonstrate that none of the existing tests are ideal. Although the participants were familiar with the Text-based test, they found it the most frustrating and non-enjoyable. Half of the participants failed in the Arithmetic-based test. While most of the participants found the picture and game based test enjoyable, their response time for those tests was the largest. The age factor was encountered as influencing both the attitude of the user and the performance, while younger users are more tolerant, have a better success rate, and are faster, the elder users found the tests annoying and time-consuming.