Reyes Juárez-Ramírez

Framework to Evaluate M-Learning Systems: A Technological and Pedagogical Approach

This paper presents the analysis of recent research on mobile learning and usability areas, applying a systematic mapping study. The aim is to understand the tendencies and needs in the m-learning field. The results demonstrate that research in the area has grown significantly since 2013, and we identify a necessity when we see that not all the m-learning applications have used usability tests; we also did not find guidelines or frameworks to evaluate them. With these results and tendencies, we propose an evaluation framework for m-learning applications, considering pedagogical usability and user interface usability, to improve the quality of m-learning applications.

NLARE, a natural language processing tool for automatic requirements evaluation

Most research works have found that an important root cause of software project failure comes from the requirements; their quality has an important impact over other artifacts. As the requirements are expressed in natural language, they can be an important source of defects. Aspects such as non ambiguity, completeness, and atomicity can be affected due the characteristics of natural language. Traditional practices focus on finding software bugs, as a corrective approach, until the project has been coded already, instead assuring quality since the beginning. By other hand, evaluating such quality attributes can be a difficult task. In this paper we propose some guidelines for a disciplined sentence structure for expressing the requirements, which allows natural language processing techniques to evaluate quality. We also propose a tool for automatic requirement evaluation based on the grammar structure of sentences expressed in natural language. With this tool we have a huge speed increase over manual evaluation. In order to validate our proposal we have implemented a set of experiments with real projects, assessing the impact of requirements quality over project results.

Implementing adaptive interfaces: a user model for the development of usability in interactive systems

Current user-centered software development approaches make special emphasis on the characteristics of the user and the tasks that must be accomplished because it affects greatly the way the user interacts with the system. Most research works propose some user characteristics; however, there is not a model that integrates aspects such as psychological, cognitive, and physical. In this paper, we propose a user model integrating all the users characteristics, with the purpose of achieving an adaptive software interface improving the overall usability of any system. We have integrated this model gathering information from different disciplines such as medicine, sociology and their practitioners. In order to validate our model, we have implemented user interfaces for various real projects taking into account characteristics from real users. Also we present here an example of how a user interface can be adapted for a specific set of user capabilities.

Developing Applications for Autistic Users: Towards an Autistic User Model

With the advent of new consumer electronics, such as laptops and tablets with touch capabilities, there are more ways to improve the quality of life of users with special needs. Persons that suffer from autism can have a spectrum of impairments that make every case unique, although specialized software can help with some aspects, certain design decisions can affect the usability and effectiveness of the software. User models can help by determining the characteristics of the user and how they affect the design of the software. In this article we present a work in progress of the development of an Autistic User Model and some case studies using said model, making the development of the applications easier for the developers.

Towards improving user interfaces: A proposal for integrating functionality and usability since early phases

Traditionally, in the practice developers separate usability from functionality. Usability aspects are implemented at the end of the development process; sometimes achieving little usability, resulting in a bad user experience. This paper presents a proposal to integrate the implementation of usability in conjunction with functionality since early phases. This proposal is centered in the sub-phases of user and tasks analysis, combining techniques from software engineering, usability engineering, and human computer interaction. We present a practical guide to derive a software architecture considering both user-interface and user-profile aspects.

Problems in the Adoption of Agile-Scrum Methodologies: A Systematic Literature Review

Agile methodologies are focused on the people and functional product delivery in short periods of time. There are methodologies that change considerably the work habits of software developers. Scrum is an agile methodology that involves an iterative, incremental, and empiric process. Besides it is designed to add value, focus, clarity and transparency to the activities and products of a project. Nowadays, most companies are interested in the adoption of agile methodologies. Although Scrum is a light process and easy to understand, its adoption sometimes is difficult. Agile methodologies are not obvious by themselves, so they are difficult to introduce in the culture of a company. In order to identify the problems presented during the adoption, a Systematic Literature Review is performed focusing in Scrum. We found several problems, these are categorized in four groups: people, process, project, and company (organization). The results represent a basis to propose a framework to support the agile adoption.

Evaluation module based on Bayesian networks to Intelligent Tutoring Systems

Abstract Assessing knowledge acquisition by the student is the primary task of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS). Assessment is needed to adapt learning materials and activities to students capacities. In this paper, a proposal to infer the level of knowledge possessed by the student is presented. A general structure of an ITS is shown, an evaluation module based on Bayesian network is proposed. The module mainly based on a test was implemented to know what student knows. During the test, the software system chooses the new questions based on the responses to the previous ones, that is, the software system makes an adaption in real time. A network of concepts was used to get the inferences, which contains the relationships between concepts. Evaluation module could infer many questions and concepts through the relations and the probabilistic inference of the Bayesian network. It information easily can be used to reinforce weak topics in order to cover the students needs. Given the positive evidence is considered that testing the rest of variable examined in the Bayesian network can provide better accurate in the diagnostic of student’ knowledge possession.

Usability Operations on Touch Mobile Devices for Users with Autism

The Autistic Spectrum Disorder is a cognitive disorder that affects the cognitive and motor skills; due that, users cannot perform digital and fine motor tasks. It is necessary to create software applications that adapt to the abilities of these users. In recent years has been an increase in the research of the use of technology to support autistic users to develop their communication skills and to improve learning. However, the applications’ usability for disable users is not assessed objectively as the existing models do not consider interaction operators for disable users. This article focuses on identifying the operations that can easily be performed by autistic users following the metrics of KML-GOMS, TLM and FLM. In addition, users of typical development were included in order to do a comparison between both types of users. The experiment was carried out using four applications designed for autistic users. Participants were subjects divided in two groups: level 1 and level 2 autistic users, and a group of users of typical development. During the experimentation, users performed a use case for each application; the time needed to perform each task was measured. Results show that the easiest operations for autistic users are K (Keystroke), D (Drag), Initial Act (I) and Tapping (T).

A formal approach for measuring the lexical ambiguity degree in natural language requirement specification: Polysemes and Homonyms focused

In natural language regardless the presentation, being spoken or written we can distinguish different types of ambiguity. In this paper we will focus on written lexical ambiguity, which is caused when a word or set of words has more than one meaning. This inherent problem of natural language is generated by two types of words: Polysemes and Homonyms. Commonly requirement specifications are expressed in natural language even with the knowledge of inherent problems this have. Measuring ambiguity typically only includes the language itself as the universe; in this paper we include the transport channel and communication model to give a formal approach to find ambiguity degree based on stakeholder knowledge and how readers brain resolves ambiguity for a given text.

An Affective Learning Ontology for Educational Systems

In recent years, education is characterized by promoting independent study through computational tools, such as Intelligent Tutoring Systems. It is important these educational systems consider affective aspects because it improves the learning process. However, the literature reports that there is no an affective model to guide the design of affective educational systems. For that reason, this work introduces a novel affective learning ontology that examines student, tutor and dialogue issues. Also, this paper presents an assessment of which elements of our ontology are taken into account in education systems such as Intelligent Tutoring Systems. We believe the findings from this research will serve as a useful reference for the design of educational systems such as Intelligent Tutoring Systems.