Shailey Minocha

Supporting scenario-based requirements engineering

Scenarios have been advocated as a means of improving requirements engineering yet few methods or tools exist to support scenario based RE. The paper reports a method and software assistant tool for scenario based RE that integrates with use case approaches to object oriented development. The method and operation of the tool are illustrated with a financial system case study. Scenarios are used to represent paths of possible behavior through a use case, and these are investigated to elaborate requirements. The method commences by acquisition and modeling of a use case. The use case is then compared with a library of abstract models that represent different application classes. Each model is associated with a set of generic requirements for its class, hence, by identifying the class(es) to which the use case belongs, generic requirements can be reused. Scenario paths are automatically generated from use cases, then exception types are applied to normal event sequences to suggest possible abnormal events resulting from human error. Generic requirements are also attached to exceptions to suggest possible ways of dealing with human error and other types of system failure. Scenarios are validated by rule based frames which detect problematic event patterns. The tool suggests appropriate generic requirements to deal with the problems encountered. The paper concludes with a review of related work and a discussion of the prospects for scenario based RE methods and tools.

The Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of Using Social Software in Higher and Further Education Teaching and Learning.

Social software is increasingly being used in higher and further education to support teaching and learning processes. These applications provide students with social and cognitive stimulation and also add to the interaction between students and educators. However, in addition to the benefits the introduction of social software into a course environment can also have adverse implications on students, educators and the education institution as a whole, a phenomenon which has received much less attention in the literature. In this study we explore the various implications of introducing social software into a course environment in order to identify the associated benefits, but also the potential drawbacks. We draw on data from 20 social software initiatives in UK based higher and further education institutions to identify the diverse experiences and concerns of students and educators. The findings are presented in form of a SWOT analysis, which allows us to better understand the otherwise ambiguous implications of social software in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. From the analysis we have derived concrete recommendations for the use of social software as a teaching and learning tool.

A process model for developing usable cross-cultural websites

In this paper we present a process model for developing usable cross-cultural websites. Compatible with ISO 13407, the process model documents an abstraction of the design process focusing on cultural issues in development. It provides a framework in which a variety of user-based and expert-based techniques for analysis and design are placed within the life-cycle of website development. In developing the model, we relate practical approaches to design with theories and models of culture and discuss the relevance of such theories to the practical design process. In particular we focus on four key concerns: how an audit of local website attractors can inform the design process; the concept of a cultural fingerprint to contrast websites with the cultural needs of local users; the problems associated with user evaluation; and cross-cultural team development. We then show their relation to our process model. We conclude by summarising our contribution to date within the field.

Collaborative learning in a wiki environment: experiences from a software engineering course

The post-graduate course, Software Requirements for Business Systems, in the Department of Computing of the Open University involves teaching systematic elicitation and documentation of requirements for software systems. On a software development project, team members often work remotely from one another and increasingly use wikis to collaboratively develop the requirements specification. In order to emulate requirements engineering practice, the course has been enhanced to include group collaboration using a wiki. In this paper, we describe the wiki-based collaborative activities and the evaluation of the pedagogical effectiveness of a wiki for collaborative learning. Our evaluations have confirmed that the strength of a wiki, as a collaborative authoring tool, can facilitate the learning of course concepts and students’ appreciation of the distributed nature of the RE process context. However, there is a need to support the discussion aspects of collaborative activities with more appropriate tools. We have also found that there are certain usability aspects of wikis that can mar a positive student experience. This paper will be of interest to academics aspiring to employ wikis on their courses and to practitioners who wish to realize the potential of wikis in facilitating information sharing, knowledge management, and in fostering collaboration within and between organizations.

Role of social software tools in education: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a review of literature on the role of Web 2.0 or social software tools in education.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is a critical and comprehensive review of a range of literature sources (until January 2009) addressing the various issues related to the educators perspective of pedagogical effectiveness of social software tools.Findings – The paper provides insights about the: educational goals of using social software tools; benefits to the students, educators and institutions; challenges that may influence a social software initiative; and issues that need to be considered in a social software initiative.Research limitations/implications – It is hoped that the analysis, as captured in this paper, will highlight the different pedagogical roles of social software: communication, nurturing creativity and innovation, and collaborative learning. The paper will be of interest to researchers in the areas of social software and technology‐enabled learn...

Design of Learning Spaces in 3D Virtual Worlds: An Empirical Investigation of "Second Life"

Second Life (SL) is a three‐dimensional (3D) virtual world, and educational institutions are adopting SL to support their teaching and learning. Although the question of how 3D learning spaces should be designed to support student learning and engagement has been raised among SL educators and designers, there is hardly any guidance or research in this area. In this article, we report an empirical study in which we have elicited educators’, designers’ and students’ perceptions of learning spaces within SL. Based on this empirical research, we have presented some design considerations for SL educators and designers who are involved in designing learning activities and spaces in SL. We hope that the design guidance and examples described in this article will support educators and designers to design learning spaces that foster students’ socialisation, informal learning, collaboration and creativity.

Characterising the Different Blogging Behaviours of Students on an Online Distance Learning Course.

Since the early years of the twenty‐first century there has been an increasing interest in using Web 2.0 technologies to support learning in Higher Education. However, previous research suggests that the integration of blogging into courses can be difficult and cites problems with issues such as student compliance. We adopt a learner‐centred perspective and explore students’ (rather than their educators’) understanding of how blogs and blogging can support distance learning in Higher Education. We report on a study of UK Open University (OU) students on an online distance learning Masters course, that has enabled us to determine the issues that are important to these bloggers, and we describe five ways in which they appropriated blogging to suit their individual needs. We discuss the importance of making blogging activities flexible so that students can blog to meet their own needs whilst still attending to the requirements of their course.

CREWS-SAVRE: systematic scenario generation and use

CREWS-SAVRE is a prototype software tool for systematic scenario generation and use. This paper reports on two interleaved strands of research and development of CREWS-SAVRE. The first is theoretical research into classes of exceptions in software-intensive systems. The second is the development of a software prototype which has been used to acquire requirements from current scenario users. This paper reports these user requirements and design implications for the current version of the prototype. The paper ends with a discussion of the advantages of integrating basic software engineering research with user-centred system design.

A case study-based investigation of students' experiences with social software tools

The term “social software” covers a range of tools which allow users to interact and share data with other users, primarily via the web. Blogs, wikis, podcasts and social networking websites are some of the tools that are being used in educational, social and business contexts. We have examined the use of social software in the UK further and higher education to collect evidence of the effective use of social software in student learning and engagement. We applied case study methodology involving educators and students from 26 initiatives. In this paper, we focus on the student experience: educational goals of using social software; benefits to the students; and the challenges they experience. Our investigations have shown that social software supports a variety of ways of learning: sharing of resources; collaborative learning; problem-based and inquiry-based learning; and reflective learning. Students gain transferable skills of team working, negotiation, communication and managing digital identities. Although these tools enhance a students sense of community, the need to share and collaborate brings in additional responsibility and workload, which some students find inflexible and “forced”. Our findings show that students have concerns about usability, privacy and the public nature of social software tools for academic activities.

Consumers, channels and communication: Online and offline communication in service consumption

This paper reports on a study that investigated consumer use of e-services in a multi-channel context. Many HCI studies on the use of e-services focus on the use of the online channel in relative isolation. This study attempts to develop a deeper understanding of what makes consumers decide to use the online channel in examining consumer channel-choice beyond the instances of internet use. The consumption behaviour of its participants was investigated across channels in an in-depth qualitative study. The analysis of the rich data produced specifically focused on the investigation of voluntary consumer movements between online and offline channels during the course of a consumption process. The results indicate that participants often use multiple channels in parallel and frequently switch between channels. Literature from marketing and consumer research was used as the perspective to explore the rationale for the complex and dynamic reported consumer behaviour.