| 1. |
- Faraon, Montathar, et al.
(författare)
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Learning by coding : A sociocultural approach to teaching web development in higher education
- 2020
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Ingår i: Education and Information Technologies. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1360-2357 .- 1573-7608. ; 25:3, s. 1759-1783
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- As information technology continues to evolve rapidly in society, coding skills become increasingly essential to develop. The purpose of this article is to examine differences between the learner-centered and sociocultural approaches when teaching and learning coding in higher education. A quasi-experiment was applied over six academic semesters evaluating the mentioned approaches in terms of students' explicit attitudes, grades, and course evaluations. The findings indicated that the sociocultural approach may be a viable alternative to the learner-centered approach. More specifically, students indicated a preference for the sociocultural approach over the learner-centered approach, a greater number of students who passed the courses were educated via the sociocultural approach, and overall satisfaction was significantly higher for this approach as well. While the sociocultural approach has demonstrated to be advantageous, its integration in courses must concurrently be carefully balanced against constraints that teachers continuously experience in higher education, such as time and resources, which presents a challenge to the design of courses and to academia at large.
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| 2. |
- Rönkkö, Kari
(författare)
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An activity tracker and its accompanying app as a motivator for increased exercise and better sleeping habits for youths in need of social care : field study
- 2018
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Ingår i: JMIR mhealth and uhealth. - 2291-5222. ; 6:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The number of mobile self-tracking devices connected to the Web has exploded in today’s society. With these wearable activity trackers related to Web 2.0 apps and social media have come new ways of monitoring, measuring, representing, and sharing experiences of the human body. New opportunities related to health and new areas of implementation for professionals have appeared, and one identified area that can benefit from mobile health technologies is social work.Objective: There are still only a small number of papers reporting the results from studying wearable activity trackers and accompanying apps in the context of agency-based social work. This study aimed to contribute to the identified shortage by presenting results from a research project framed by the following overarching question: What effects will the studied youths in need of social care experience in relation to exercise and sleep as the result of using a wearable activity tracker and its accompanying app?Methods: A field study framed by action research was performed. The study concerned vulnerable youths living in a Swedish municipality’s care and accommodation home that tried out an activity tracker and its accompanying app.Results: The results from the study confirm previously published research results reporting that instant graphical feedback, sharing information, and being part of a social community can have a positive impact on lifestyle changes. In addition, this study’s main results are that (1) the most important factor for positive health-related lifestyle changes was the establishment of personal long-term goals and (2) professional social workers found the studied technology to function as a valuable counseling tool, opening up avenues for lifestyle talks that otherwise were hard to undertake.Conclusions: This study demonstrates how an activity tracker and its accompanying app can open up a topic for discussion regarding how vulnerable youths can achieve digital support for changing unhealthy lifestyle patterns, and it shows that the technology might be a valuable counseling tool for professionals in social work.
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| 3. |
- Rönkkö, Kari
(författare)
-
An activity tracker and its accompanying app as a motivator for increased exercise and better sleeping habits for youths in need of social care : field study
- 2018
-
Ingår i: JMIR mHealth and uHealth. - : Journal of medical Internet Research. - 2291-5222. ; 6:12
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The number of mobile self-tracking devices connected to the Web has exploded in today’s society. With these wearable activity trackers related to Web 2.0 apps and social media have come new ways of monitoring, measuring, representing, and sharing experiences of the human body. New opportunities related to health and new areas of implementation for professionals have appeared, and one identified area that can benefit from mobile health technologies is social work. Objective: There are still only a small number of papers reporting the results from studying wearable activity trackers and accompanying apps in the context of agency-based social work. This study aimed to contribute to the identified shortage by presenting results from a research project framed by the following overarching question: What effects will the studied youths in need of social care experience in relation to exercise and sleep as the result of using a wearable activity tracker and its accompanying app? Methods: A field study framed by action research was performed. The study concerned vulnerable youths living in a Swedish municipality’s care and accommodation home that tried out an activity tracker and its accompanying app. Results: The results from the study confirm previously published research results reporting that instant graphical feedback, sharing information, and being part of a social community can have a positive impact on lifestyle changes. In addition, this study’s main results are that (1) the most important factor for positive health-related lifestyle changes was the establishment of personal long-term goals and (2) professional social workers found the studied technology to function as a valuable counseling tool, opening up avenues for lifestyle talks that otherwise were hard to undertake. Conclusions : This study demonstrates how an activity tracker and its accompanying app can open up a topic for discussion regarding how vulnerable youths can achieve digital support for changing unhealthy lifestyle patterns, and it shows that the technology might be a valuable counseling tool for professionals in social work.
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| 4. |
- Rönkkö, Kari, et al.
(författare)
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When plans do not work out : how plans are used in software development projects
- 2005
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Ingår i: Computer Supported Cooperative Work. - 0925-9724. ; 14:5, s. 433-468
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on empirical material from the area of software engineering, this articlediscusses the issue of plans and planning as an integral part of and prerequisite for software development work. It relates observed practices to literature produced by the Computer Supported Cooperative Work community. Empirical studies of software development practice seldom address re-planning. By analyzing the empirical material from one project we are able to show how certain kinds of co-ordination problems arise and how they may be dealt with. The empirical research does not focus primarily on the character of plans; instead, it raises the question ‘what means are necessary and should be provided in order to cope with situations when plans do not work out? In relation to plans, especial emphasis is on ‘‘due process’’, i.e. how the project plan and the company wide project model are maintained to enable the identification and articulation of deviations from it. On the basis of our empirical analysis we propose to support the articulation and coordination work necessary in situations where plans do not adequately work out.
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| 5. |
- Winter, Jeff, et al.
(författare)
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Identifying organizational barriers : a case study of usability work when developing software in the automation industry
- 2014
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Ingår i: JOURNAL OF SYSTEMS AND SOFTWARE. - : Elsevier. - 0164-1212 .- 1873-1228. ; 88, s. 54-73
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study investigates connections between usability efforts and organizational factors. This is an important field of research which so far appears to be insufficiently studied and discussed. It illustrates problems when working with software engineering tasks and usability requirements. It deals with a large company that manufactures industrial robots with an advanced user interface, which wanted to introduce usability KPIs, to improve product quality. The situation in the company makes this difficult, due to a combination of organizational and behavioural factors that led to a "wicked problem" that caused conflicts, breakdowns and barriers. Addressing these problems requires a holistic view that places context in the foreground and technological solutions in the background. Developing the right product requires communication and collaboration between multiple stakeholders. The inclusion of end users, who fully understand their own work context, is vital. Achieving this is dependent on organizational change, and management commitment. One step to beginning this change process may be through studying ways to introduce user-centred design processes. (C) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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