title: A Comparison of the BTT and TTF Test-Generation Methods

authors: Legeard, Bruno

subjects: computer science

abstract: This paper compares two methods of generating tests from formal specifications. The Test Template Framework (TTF) method is a framework and set of heuristics for manually generating test sets from a Z specification. The B Testing Tools (BTT) method uses constraint logic programming techniques to generate test sequences from a B specification. We give a concise description of each method, then compare them on an industrial case study, which is a subset of the GSM 11.11 smart card specification.

text: A Comparison of the BTT and TTF Test-Generation Methods This paper compares two methods of generating tests from formal specifications. The Test Template Framework (TTF) method is a framework and set of heuristics for manually generating test sets from a Z specification. The B Testing Tools (BTT) method uses constraint logic programming techniques to generate test sequences from a B specification. We give a concise description of each method, then compare them on an industrial case study, which is a subset of the GSM 11.11 smart card specification.

year: 2002

title: Online scaffolding in a fully online educational leadership course

authors: da Rosa Ferrarelli, Lisabeth

subjects: Online scaffolding

abstract: Online scaffolding encompasses a range of effective teaching strategies that help students to achieve their learning goals while at the same time exercising their autonomy. Although online scaffolding is crucial for student learning, not much is known about scaffolding in an online post-graduate course. In order to address this research gap, this study explored the intricacies of online scaffolding in a fully online educational leadership course. Through a mixed-method research design, a case study was developed weaving the perspectives and actions of lecturers and students in a fully online post-graduate educational leadership course. Two interviews with lecturers, two student online surveys and two online forum discussion logs, each one from the start and the end of the course, were analysed using content and statistical analyses. The theory of transactional distance provided a theoretical framework and the literature on scaffolding in distance education guided the analysis process. A third online space, the Question & Answer section, was archived and analysed in order to enrich insights that were emerging from the other data sources. Research outcomes revealed that lecturers’ understanding of online scaffolding focused on the design and use of resources, modelling, and the use of questioning in forum discussions in order to facilitate learner engagement with content. At the beginning of the course, lecturers provided a high level of procedural and social scaffolding followed by an on-going learner support (strategic scaffolding), which peaked before assignment deadlines. Students thought of online scaffolding as a coaching process in which lecturers monitor learners’ online engagement to provide encouragement, identify misconceptions, and provide direction and feedback when necessary. Furthermore, procedural and strategic scaffolding were reported by students as essential forms of learner support. In particular, students felt that formative and timely feedback was paramount to their online scaffolding and expected lecturers to offer procedural, social, and strategic scaffolding. Sharing of professional experiences and visual resources, a more informal tone of communication, and the use of students’ and lecturers’ names in online postings were evident throughout the course. In addition, peer scaffolding in online discussions was encouraged by the lecturer and practised by students through a range of strategies, including agreement with others’ ideas, acknowledgment of peers’ postings, and answering questions raised by peers. Some suggestions for enhancing online scaffolding in this course, and online teaching in general, include creating a course road map, describing the pace of the course, creating online participation and peer facilitation guidelines, and others.

text: Online scaffolding in a fully online educational leadership course Online scaffolding encompasses a range of effective teaching strategies that help students to achieve their learning goals while at the same time exercising their autonomy. Although online scaffolding is crucial for student learning, not much is known about scaffolding in an online post-graduate course. In order to address this research gap, this study explored the intricacies of online scaffolding in a fully online educational leadership course. Through a mixed-method research design, a case study was developed weaving the perspectives and actions of lecturers and students in a fully online post-graduate educational leadership course. Two interviews with lecturers, two student online surveys and two online forum discussion logs, each one from the start and the end of the course, were analysed using content and statistical analyses. The theory of transactional distance provided a theoretical framework and the literature on scaffolding in distance education guided the analysis process. A third online space, the Question & Answer section, was archived and analysed in order to enrich insights that were emerging from the other data sources. Research outcomes revealed that lecturers’ understanding of online scaffolding focused on the design and use of resources, modelling, and the use of questioning in forum discussions in order to facilitate learner engagement with content. At the beginning of the course, lecturers provided a high level of procedural and social scaffolding followed by an on-going learner support (strategic scaffolding), which peaked before assignment deadlines. Students thought of online scaffolding as a coaching process in which lecturers monitor learners’ online engagement to provide encouragement, identify misconceptions, and provide direction and feedback when necessary. Furthermore, procedural and strategic scaffolding were reported by students as essential forms of learner support. In particular, students felt that formative and timely feedback was paramount to their online scaffolding and expected lecturers to offer procedural, social, and strategic scaffolding. Sharing of professional experiences and visual resources, a more informal tone of communication, and the use of students’ and lecturers’ names in online postings were evident throughout the course. In addition, peer scaffolding in online discussions was encouraged by the lecturer and practised by students through a range of strategies, including agreement with others’ ideas, acknowledgment of peers’ postings, and answering questions raised by peers. Some suggestions for enhancing online scaffolding in this course, and online teaching in general, include creating a course road map, describing the pace of the course, creating online participation and peer facilitation guidelines, and others.

year: 2015

title: Joseph Harris Smallman

authors: Hart, Philip

abstract: Born to a mining agent and trained as a mining surveyor, in 1864, less than a year after the birth of his first child, Smallman left England for New Zealand to establish a ‘Mining business’, promising that his family would join him once it was successful. But they were never asked to join him, and after 1870 he ceased to write to his wife. 
The ‘Mining business’ never eventuated, but in 1865 he prospected at Thames, unsuccessfully seeking alluvial gold. Although criticized for living off Maori and doing little prospecting, with his partner he investigated several areas of the Hauraki Peninsula, again unsuccessfully. When the Thames goldfield was opened, with his encouragement, two years later, he mined there for some years, proving himself to be a competent miner but not making his fortune. After working elsewhere, by the mid-1870s he was living with another man’s ‘half-caste’ wife on her land near Te Aroha, having five children with her. Happy to be described as a Pakeha Maori and closely associated with the local hapu, he supported them over land dealings and the development of the district. Despite spending most of his time farming, he remained interested in prospecting, and made some explorations in districts closed to Pakeha. After gold was found at Te Aroha, for a short time he worked with Maori partners in unprofitable claims.
Either before or after his second wife had a child by another man in 1886, he left New Zealand to return to his English family; and remarkably, despite his first wife knowing that his liaison had produced children, she accepted him back after his long absence, and they remained together for the rest of their lives.

text: Joseph Harris Smallman Born to a mining agent and trained as a mining surveyor, in 1864, less than a year after the birth of his first child, Smallman left England for New Zealand to establish a ‘Mining business’, promising that his family would join him once it was successful. But they were never asked to join him, and after 1870 he ceased to write to his wife. 
The ‘Mining business’ never eventuated, but in 1865 he prospected at Thames, unsuccessfully seeking alluvial gold. Although criticized for living off Maori and doing little prospecting, with his partner he investigated several areas of the Hauraki Peninsula, again unsuccessfully. When the Thames goldfield was opened, with his encouragement, two years later, he mined there for some years, proving himself to be a competent miner but not making his fortune. After working elsewhere, by the mid-1870s he was living with another man’s ‘half-caste’ wife on her land near Te Aroha, having five children with her. Happy to be described as a Pakeha Maori and closely associated with the local hapu, he supported them over land dealings and the development of the district. Despite spending most of his time farming, he remained interested in prospecting, and made some explorations in districts closed to Pakeha. After gold was found at Te Aroha, for a short time he worked with Maori partners in unprofitable claims.
Either before or after his second wife had a child by another man in 1886, he left New Zealand to return to his English family; and remarkably, despite his first wife knowing that his liaison had produced children, she accepted him back after his long absence, and they remained together for the rest of their lives.

year: 2016