Magdalena Borys

Using Deming cycle for strengthening cooperation between industry and university in IT engineering education program

European Qualification Framework (EQF) forces universities to strengthen the cooperation with industry. Although EQF guidelines were introduced as obligatory into Polish educational system this year, Lublin University of Technology (LUT) had opportunity to implement EQF outlines into educational program earlier, especially in area of cooperation with industry, thanks to educational project for reengineering of second level degree program in Computer Science. To improve the quality of the established cooperation and thus to strengthen it the Deming cycle was used. The paper presents the evaluation of LUT cooperation with industry made after the project. It also discusses gained experience. The main study method was the survey conducted among industry representatives. The survey was focused on three groups of ICT company employers: internships supervisors, MSc thesis industry consultants and high technical managers. The conclusions in research and the plan of those implementation to improve the cooperation between ICT industry and LUT in the Computer Science education field are presented as well.

Methods and technologies for quality improving of student team software projects

Today IT systems need to fulfill requirements of a client, but they also need to be reliable and free from faults. The quality of IT projects depends on many factors and attributes. This paper emphasizes the role of student team projects in software engineering education. In particular the paper describes the importance of encouraging students to improve software development process as well as software quality. Presented method was evaluated using anonymous survey.

Knowledge Exchange Portal as a tool for long-term contacts with graduated students and industry

Knowledge Exchange Portal for building and maintaining stable relationships in the triangle university-graduate-industry is presented in this paper. The portal has been developed during the educational project “A graduate of our time” in Lublin University of Technology, Poland. The architecture and detailed functions of the portal are presented in the paper, as well as problems of its using in long-time period.

Disturbed functional connectivity within the left prefrontal cortex and sensorimotor areas predicts impaired cognitive speed in patients with first-episode schizophrenia

This study aimed at identifying abnormal cortico-cortical functional connectivity patterns that could predict cognitive slowing in patients with schizophrenia. A group of thirty-two patients with the first-episode schizophrenia and comparable healthy controls underwent resting-state qEEG and cognitive assessment. Phase Lag Index (PLI) was applied as a connectivity index and the synchronizations were analyzed in six frequencies. Pairs of electrodes were grouped to separately cover frontal, temporal, central, parietal and occipital regions. PLI was calculated for intra-regional connectivity and between-regions connectivity. Computer version processing speed tests were applied to control for possible fluctuations in cognitive efficiency during the performance of the tasks. In the group of patients, in comparison to healthy controls, significantly higher PLI values were recorded in theta frequency, especially in the posterior areas and decreased PLI in low-alpha frequency within the frontal regions. Mean PLI in gamma frequency was also lower in the patients group. Regression analysis showed that lower intra-regional PLI for left frontal cortex and higher PLI within somatosensory cortex in theta band, together with the duration of untreated psychosis, proved to be significant predictors of impaired processing speed in first-episode patients. Our investigation confirmed that disrupted cortico-cortical synchronization contributes to cognitive slowing in schizophrenia.

Mobile application usability testing in quasi-real conditions

The paper presents the setup and results of a mobile application usability test using mobile eye-tracking glasses. Quasi-real conditions of the natural environment were assured for the testing in order to avoid incidental disorders possible in natural conditions and the weaknesses of a fully lab experiment. The experiment methodology was developed and used to carry out a usability test of the mobile part of a Sale Force Automation (SFA) application in terms of its basic functionality. The papers outlines are the following: the methodology used, arrangement and realisation of the usability testing experiment, test results and answers to the research questions. A list of general conclusions rounds off the report.

Contribution of international seminars on computer science to education adjustment on European IT industry market

The article presents the role of international seminars in the educational process. Seminars are conducted on the computer science master degree program. Traditional ways of teaching, like lectures, laboratories and projects needs to be supplemented to make the educational offer interesting and to cover today students needs. The European IT market is changing and developing fast. It also spread rapidly and new branches are developed. Supporting ways of teaching, like international seminars enable students to learn about new technologies, applications, methods and solutions used and spread on abroad universities and markets. Moreover, such seminars help students to develop soft skills, establish new personal contacts and experience cooperation with abroad teachers. All those aspects enable students to orient themselves in the possibilities of study and work abroad. This study is concentrated on the aspects of communication, understanding content in foreign languages and obtaining knowledge in presented subject. What is more students expectation about the theoretical and practical knowledge quality, learning experience, teachers skills and knowledge are evaluated. Additionally the influence of seminars on participation in student exchange programs is tested. The seminars described in the article were conducted by the educational project “A graduate of our time” granted by Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The project covers creation of new specialisations for the Computer Science Master Degree program in Lublin University of Technology.

Quality improvement of ERP system GUI using expert method: A case study

The paper presents a case study of GUI quality improvement procedure. The procedure was used during development of GUI for Sale Force Automation (SFA) application as a part of ERP system. The paper outlines: the used methodology, GUI evaluation process, the SFA application description as well as the most important remarks concerning GUI. Moreover, the general recommendation and conclusions are listed.

An analysis of eye-tracking and electroencephalography data for cognitive load measurement during arithmetic tasks

The paper presents multiple features analysis of cognitive load case study. The set of features applied in the research covers response times, committed errors, EEG spectral data as well as pupillometry and eye-tracking (ET) data including fixations, saccades and blinks. The experiment took the form of eleven intervals: six containing arithmetic tasks and five breaks. Two correlation analyses were performed. The first one aimed in finding correlation between cognitive measure, EEG and ET features in each interval. The second analysis was performed to find correlation of cognitive workload and EEG and ET features. The results proved that the best cognitive workload measures are selected eye movement and pupil dilation measures.

Synergy effect in GUI usability and accessibility education improvement

The paper presents a synergy effect achieved through knowledge and experience exchange in the field of Graphical User Interface (GUI) usability and accessibility among Leonardo da Vinci Partnerships project partners. The main aim of the project is curricula and teaching materials development in the usability and accessibility of computer applications area. Partner universities join their potential in order to achieve the planned results.

Measuring Cognitive Workload in Arithmetic Tasks Based on Response Time and EEG Features

The aim of the present paper is to verify whether the cognitive load can be evaluated through the analysis of the examined person’s response time and extracted EEG signal features. The research was based on an experiment consisting of six intervals ensuring various cognitive load level of arithmetic tasks. The paper describes in details the analysis process including signal pre-processing with artifact correction, feature extraction and outlier detection. Statistical verification of EEG band differences, response time and error rate in intervals was realised. Statistical correlations were found between EEG features and response time, however, the correlation strength increased inside the groups of intervals of similar cognitive workload level. Evoked related potentials were also analysed and their results confirmed the statistical outcomes.