title: Academics’ experience of online reading lists and the use of reading list notes

authors: Kumara, P. P. N. V.

subjects: computer science

abstract: Reading Lists Systems are widely used in tertiary education as a pedagogical tool and for tracking copyrighted material. This paper explores academics' experiences with reading lists and in particular the use of reading lists notes feature. A mixed-methods approach was employed in which we first conducted interviews with academics about their experience with reading lists. We identified the need for streamlining the workflow of the reading lists set-up, improved usability of the interfaces, and better synchronization with other teaching support systems. Next, we performed a log analysis of the use of the notes feature throughout one academic year. The results of our log analysis were that the note feature is under-utilized by academics. We recommend improving the systems’ usability by re-engineering the user workflows and to better integrate notes feature into academic teaching.

text: Academics’ experience of online reading lists and the use of reading list notes Reading Lists Systems are widely used in tertiary education as a pedagogical tool and for tracking copyrighted material. This paper explores academics' experiences with reading lists and in particular the use of reading lists notes feature. A mixed-methods approach was employed in which we first conducted interviews with academics about their experience with reading lists. We identified the need for streamlining the workflow of the reading lists set-up, improved usability of the interfaces, and better synchronization with other teaching support systems. Next, we performed a log analysis of the use of the notes feature throughout one academic year. The results of our log analysis were that the note feature is under-utilized by academics. We recommend improving the systems’ usability by re-engineering the user workflows and to better integrate notes feature into academic teaching.

year: 2024-01-12

title: Generic tools via general refinement

authors: Reeves, Steve

subjects: basis for tools

abstract: Tools have become essential in the formal model-driven development of software but are very time consuming to build and often restricted to a particular semantic interpretation of a particular syntax. This is regrettable since there is large amount in common between tools, even if they do “implement” different syntaxes and different semantics.
We propose splitting tools into front- and back-ends where an operational semantics acts as the link between the two. We will not have much to say about the front-end and the link in this paper since it is theoretically straightforward. Instead, we concentrate on the second part and provide a well-motivated, general, mathematical framework to form the underlying theory that gives great flexibility to the back-end of a tool which is concerned with developing software via stepwise refinement.
From a general model of refinement between two entities, where the refinement is parameterised on contexts and observations, we build logical theories which have refinement as implication. Further, we consider what can be expected of a guarantee concerning the behaviour of an implementation relative to a specification. Then by fixing the contexts and observations in suitable ways, and so getting particular, special models of refinement, we give a formal interpretation of a guarantee. To this we add theory morphisms between special models, where a theory morphism can change the contexts and observations we can make in controlled and useful ways, mainly by preserving a refinement relation between entities even as we change them.
We show how the generality brought about by the parameterisation allows an example from the literature, which seems formally not to be a refinement, to be captured as a refinement, in accordance with our intuitions about the example.
In this way we show the flexibility of our theory for a refinement tool back-end. From this it follows that the effort put into building a tool based on our theory will be well-spent—a single tool should be parameterised (just as our theory is) to deal with the many different notions of refinement found in the literature. Thus we make a contribution to the problem of ensuring correctness and dependability of software using formal methods and tools of modelling, design, verification and validation.

text: Generic tools via general refinement Tools have become essential in the formal model-driven development of software but are very time consuming to build and often restricted to a particular semantic interpretation of a particular syntax. This is regrettable since there is large amount in common between tools, even if they do “implement” different syntaxes and different semantics.
We propose splitting tools into front- and back-ends where an operational semantics acts as the link between the two. We will not have much to say about the front-end and the link in this paper since it is theoretically straightforward. Instead, we concentrate on the second part and provide a well-motivated, general, mathematical framework to form the underlying theory that gives great flexibility to the back-end of a tool which is concerned with developing software via stepwise refinement.
From a general model of refinement between two entities, where the refinement is parameterised on contexts and observations, we build logical theories which have refinement as implication. Further, we consider what can be expected of a guarantee concerning the behaviour of an implementation relative to a specification. Then by fixing the contexts and observations in suitable ways, and so getting particular, special models of refinement, we give a formal interpretation of a guarantee. To this we add theory morphisms between special models, where a theory morphism can change the contexts and observations we can make in controlled and useful ways, mainly by preserving a refinement relation between entities even as we change them.
We show how the generality brought about by the parameterisation allows an example from the literature, which seems formally not to be a refinement, to be captured as a refinement, in accordance with our intuitions about the example.
In this way we show the flexibility of our theory for a refinement tool back-end. From this it follows that the effort put into building a tool based on our theory will be well-spent—a single tool should be parameterised (just as our theory is) to deal with the many different notions of refinement found in the literature. Thus we make a contribution to the problem of ensuring correctness and dependability of software using formal methods and tools of modelling, design, verification and validation.

year: 2008

title: Sharing, listening, learning and developing understandings of Kaupapa Māori research by engaging with two Māori communities involved in education.

authors: Kana, Fred

subjects: Kaupapa Maori research methodology

abstract: This paper is a culmination of common understandings that were elicited from two pieces of research: ‘The Impact of the BHP New Zealand Steel Mining on the Tangata Whenua and the Environment’ and ‘The Impact of Maori Medium Education within a Mainstream Secondary School on the Lives of its Participants, in particular the Teachers, Caregivers and Students’. It was at the conclusion of each research project and as a consequence of informal conversations and discussions that this paper evolved. The paper discusses shared understandings in the context of Kaupapa Māori research methodology and key findings from the two research projects.

text: Sharing, listening, learning and developing understandings of Kaupapa Māori research by engaging with two Māori communities involved in education. This paper is a culmination of common understandings that were elicited from two pieces of research: ‘The Impact of the BHP New Zealand Steel Mining on the Tangata Whenua and the Environment’ and ‘The Impact of Maori Medium Education within a Mainstream Secondary School on the Lives of its Participants, in particular the Teachers, Caregivers and Students’. It was at the conclusion of each research project and as a consequence of informal conversations and discussions that this paper evolved. The paper discusses shared understandings in the context of Kaupapa Māori research methodology and key findings from the two research projects.

year: 2006