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1 – 10 of 57Mostafa Abd-El-Barr, Kalim Qureshi and Bambang Sarif
Ant Colony Optimization and Particle Swarm Optimization represent two widely used Swarm Intelligence (SI) optimization techniques. Information processing using Multiple-Valued…
Abstract
Ant Colony Optimization and Particle Swarm Optimization represent two widely used Swarm Intelligence (SI) optimization techniques. Information processing using Multiple-Valued Logic (MVL) is carried out using more than two discrete logic levels. In this paper, we compare two the SI-based algorithms in synthesizing MVL functions. A benchmark consisting of 50,000 randomly generated 2-variable 4-valued functions is used for assessing the performance of the algorithms using the benchmark. Simulation results show that the PSO outperforms the ACO technique in terms of the average number of product terms (PTs) needed. We also compare the results obtained using both ACO-MVL and PSO-MVL with those obtained using Espresso-MV logic minimizer. It is shown that on average, both of the SI-based techniques produced better results compared to those produced by Espresso-MV. We show that the SI-based techniques outperform the conventional direct-cover (DC) techniques in terms of the average number of product terms required.
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Lukas Höper and Carsten Schulte
In today’s digital world, data-driven digital artefacts pose challenges for education, as many students lack an understanding of data and feel powerless when interacting with…
Abstract
Purpose
In today’s digital world, data-driven digital artefacts pose challenges for education, as many students lack an understanding of data and feel powerless when interacting with them. This paper aims to address these challenges and introduces the data awareness framework. It focuses on understanding data-driven technologies and reflecting on the role of data in everyday life. The paper also presents an empirical study on young school students’ data awareness.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involves a teaching unit on data awareness framed by a pre- and post-test design using a questionnaire on students’ awareness and understanding of and reflection on data practices of data-driven digital artefacts.
Findings
The study’s findings indicate that the data awareness framework supports students in understanding data practices of data-driven digital artefacts. The findings also suggest that the framework encourages students to reflect on these data practices and think about their daily behaviour.
Originality/value
Students learn a model about interactions with data-driven digital artefacts and use it to analyse data-driven applications. This approach appears to enable students to understand these artefacts from everyday life and reflect on these interactions. The work contributes to research on data and artificial intelligence literacies and suggests a way to support students in developing self-determination and agency during interactions with data-driven digital artefacts.
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Audio-visual presentations – delivered either in real-life or virtually – feature heavily in educational assessments and employer recruitment. This study explored neurodivergent…
Abstract
Purpose
Audio-visual presentations – delivered either in real-life or virtually – feature heavily in educational assessments and employer recruitment. This study explored neurodivergent undergraduate students' experiences of presentations. The aim was to understand how neurodivergent students describe experiences of presentations in educational and workplace contexts and how neurodivergent students experienced training, support activities and learning technologies associated with presentations.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory qualitative phenomenological approach was taken, from students' perspectives. Overall, 12 neurodivergent undergraduate students (Mage = 21.89 years, SDage = 2.57; nine women, two men, one non-binary) discussed their experiences of presentations within educational and/or professional contexts via semi-structured remote interviews. The sample included individuals with diagnoses of anxiety, depression, dyslexia, borderline personality disorder, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, and panic disorder.
Findings
Thematic Analysis of interview transcript data revealed four main themes (with sub-themes in parentheses): Control (preparedness; delivery); Audience Perceptions and Behaviours (expectations of “normality”; shared knowledge; audience “expertise”); Intervention Efficacy (early access; individuality; learning technologies) and Value of Presentation Skills (reciprocity between education – workplace; self-efficacy; self-esteem; learner development).
Research limitations/implications
The dataset was extracted from a relatively small sample from a single university and indeed a single academic discipline. Furthermore, the dataset was collected during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic – although this gives us a valuable snapshot of students' experiences and perceptions during this time, whether the author can extrapolate these findings in future is unclear.
Practical implications
The findings help understand how we better support students. Better ways to support learners can be developed in developing presentation and audience skills. This research shows that alternative assessment provisions must be based on individuals and their own specific needs and skills, rather than their divergence label. This research can inform the development of digital learning technologies.
Social implications
This research can inform how educators, coaches, trainers, and facilitators “train” audiences to be more inclusive and less prejudicial/biased. We can understand how to better construct social spaces for presentations, in the classroom and the world of work.
Originality/value
This report presents a valid and valuable methodological approach, conducted and reported transparently. This research was conducted during a crucial, unprecedented and precarious time period for learners and education professionals. Implications are considered with respect to the design of teaching, learning and assessment activities; facilitator, learner, and peer behaviours; the role of digital learning technologies; and employment/employability.
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Lucas Walsh, Catherine Waite, Beatriz Gallo Cordoba and Masha Mikola
During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and social distancing mandates forced many young Australians to radically alter everyday interactions. Physical co-presence and embodied…
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns and social distancing mandates forced many young Australians to radically alter everyday interactions. Physical co-presence and embodied experience, a previously taken-for-granted dynamic of territorially embedded everyday lives, and interactions with urban surroundings, were reconfigured. Digital technology, while bringing people together for work, study, or socialising, is seen to dissolve material space, and mitigate geographic isolation. But what role does co-presence and embodied, spatially embedded experience play for young people living in the city? This chapter draws on the voices and experiences of young Australians aged 18–24 during the pandemic to clarify and understand the role of the digital in their everyday lives, how they negotiated disruptions to education, work, and managing relationships during the pandemic to articulate the relationships between digital lives and embodied experiences in the city.
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Omotayo Farai, Nicole Metje, Carl Anthony, Ali Sadeghioon and David Chapman
Wireless sensor networks (WSN), as a solution for buried water pipe monitoring, face a new set of challenges compared to traditional application for above-ground infrastructure…
Abstract
Purpose
Wireless sensor networks (WSN), as a solution for buried water pipe monitoring, face a new set of challenges compared to traditional application for above-ground infrastructure monitoring. One of the main challenges for underground WSN deployment is the limited range (less than 3 m) at which reliable wireless underground communication can be achieved using radio signal propagation through the soil. To overcome this challenge, the purpose of this paper is to investigate a new approach for wireless underground communication using acoustic signal propagation along a buried water pipe.
Design/methodology/approach
An acoustic communication system was developed based on the requirements of low cost (tens of pounds at most), low power supply capacity (in the order of 1 W-h) and miniature (centimetre scale) size for a wireless communication node. The developed system was further tested along a buried steel pipe in poorly graded SAND and a buried medium density polyethylene (MDPE) pipe in well graded SAND.
Findings
With predicted acoustic attenuation of 1.3 dB/m and 2.1 dB/m along the buried steel and MDPE pipes, respectively, reliable acoustic communication is possible up to 17 m for the buried steel pipe and 11 m for the buried MDPE pipe.
Research limitations/implications
Although an important first step, more research is needed to validate the acoustic communication system along a wider water distribution pipe network.
Originality/value
This paper shows the possibility of achieving reliable wireless underground communication along a buried water pipe (especially non-metallic material ones) using low-frequency acoustic propagation along the pipe wall.
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Hasnan Baber, Kiran Nair, Ruchi Gupta and Kuldeep Gurjar
This paper aims to present a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of research papers published on chat generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT), an…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of research papers published on chat generative pre-trained transformer (ChatGPT), an OpenAI-developed large-scale generative language model. The study’s objective is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the present status of research on ChatGPT and identify current trends and themes in the literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 328 research article data was extracted from Scopus for bibliometric analysis, to investigate publishing trends, productive countries and keyword analysis around the topic and 34 relevant research publications were selected for an in-depth systematic literature review.
Findings
The findings indicate that ChatGPT research is still in its early stages, with the current emphasis on applications such as natural language processing and understanding, dialogue systems, speech processing and recognition, learning systems, chatbots and response generation. The USA is at the forefront of publishing on this topic and new keywords, e.g. “patient care”, “medical”, “higher education” and so on are emerging themes around the topic.
Research limitations/implications
These findings underscore the importance of ongoing research and development to address these limitations and ensure that ChatGPT is used responsibly and ethically. While systematic review research on ChatGPT heralds exciting opportunities, it also demands a careful understanding of its nuances to harness its potential effectively.
Originality/value
Overall, this study provides a valuable resource for researchers and practitioners interested in ChatGPT at this early stage and helps to identify the grey areas around this topic.
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Psychological ownership has been a topic of intense debate for several decades, especially in the digital era. In addition, as part of the digital public domain, virtual…
Abstract
Purpose
Psychological ownership has been a topic of intense debate for several decades, especially in the digital era. In addition, as part of the digital public domain, virtual communities shape our digital lives. Unfortunately, few studies have examined the communication process in virtual communities from the perspective of psychological ownership. Moreover, information and organization are key aspects of virtual communities. This research aimed to explore the impact of psychological ownership on communication satisfaction from these two perspectives.
Design/methodology/approach
I collected 471 responses using a questionnaire. In terms of empirical methods, I developed a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the relationship between psychological ownership and communication satisfaction as well as the mechanism underlying this relationship – namely, information behavior. Specifically, I first examined the relationship between psychological ownership and information behavior. I then developed a comprehensive framework for the double-edged impact of psychological ownership in virtual communities on communication satisfaction.
Findings
I found that psychological ownership has a double-edged effect on communication satisfaction based on two types of information behavior in virtual communities. Specifically, organization-based psychological ownership (OPO) positively influences communication satisfaction through information exchange. In contrast, information-based psychological ownership (IPO) negatively impacts communication satisfaction through information-hiding.
Originality/value
The findings of this research demonstrate that psychological ownership has a double-edged effect on communication satisfaction. First, the findings of this study reveal the downsides of psychological ownership, which are not consistent with its beneficial role. Second, the negative effect of psychological ownership with regard to communication in virtual communities also helps explain communication failure in virtual communities. Finally, despite the downsides of psychological ownership in the context of a virtual community revealed by this study, this factor has an overall beneficial effect.
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Miranda Leontowitsch, Aivita Putnina, Marcus Andersson, Charlotta Niemistö, Rafaela Werny, Hanna Sjögren, Ilze Mileiko, Kārlis Lakševics, Artūrs Pokšāns, Māra Neikena, Līna Orste, Camilla Malm, Frank Oswald, Jeff Hearn and Clary Krekula
The digital age requires people of all ages to communicate and organise their lives through digital technologies. The project EQualCare investigates how the growing population of…
Abstract
Purpose
The digital age requires people of all ages to communicate and organise their lives through digital technologies. The project EQualCare investigates how the growing population of older people living alone is managing this transition, how it shapes their (non-)digital social networks and what changes on a local level need to be brought about. This paper aims to give insight into the process of participatory action research (PAR) with older people in the community across four countries and reflects on experiences made by academic and co-researchers.
Design/methodology/approach
Following the emancipatory underpinnings of PAR, which aims to reduce inequalities through collaboration and co-design, EQualCare involved nine teams of co-researchers across Finland, Germany, Latvia and Sweden making older people the centre of policy development. Co-researchers were involved in formulating research aims, collecting data, reflecting on data, formulating and disseminating recommendations for local policy stakeholders.
Findings
Co-researchers’ motivation to invest considerable time and effort was driven by a desire to create a more equal future for older people living alone. Moreover, they were keen to involve marginalised older people and became frustrated when this proved difficult. Power dynamics played a role throughout the process but became productive as roles and responsibilities were renegotiated. Doing PAR with older people can be emotionally challenging for co-researchers when negative feelings around ageing are encountered.
Originality/value
The paper advances understanding on the process of PAR in ageing research by reflecting on the social, cultural and political contexts of doing PAR with diverse sets of older people.
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Koraljka Golub, Jenny Bergenmar and Siska Humelsjö
This article aims to help ensure high-quality subject access to Swedish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersexual (LGBTQI) fiction, and aims to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to help ensure high-quality subject access to Swedish lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersexual (LGBTQI) fiction, and aims to identify challenges that librarians consider important to address, on behalf of themselves and end users.
Design/methodology/approach
A web-based questionnaire comprising 35 closed and open questions, 22 of which were required, was sent via online channels in January 2022. By the survey closing date, 20 March 2022, 82 responses had been received. The study was intended to complement an earlier study targeting end users.
Findings
Both this study of librarians and the previous study of end users have painted a dismal image of online search services when it comes to searching for LGBTQI fiction. The need to consult different channels (e.g. social media, library catalogues and friends), the inability to search more specifically than for the broad LGBTQI category and suboptimal search interfaces were among the commonly reported issues. The results of these studies are used to inform the development of a dedicated Swedish LGBTQI fiction database with an online search interface.
Originality/value
The subject searching of fiction via online services is usually limited to genre with facets for time and place, while users are often seeking characteristics such as pacing, characterization, storyline, frame/setting, tone and language/style. LGBTQI fiction is even more challenging to search because indexing practices are not really being standardized or disseminated worldwide. This study helps address this important gap, in both research and practical applications.
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