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EBD-enabled Approach to Improving the Efficiency of Developing Information Literacy Assessment Criteria
Abstract
This study proposed an Environment-Based Design (EBDEA) to develop a draft of information literacy assessment criteria (ILAC), to improve the efficiency of developing ILAC. The approach is validated using two methods. Firstly, a case study is conducted to create ILAC for K-12 students by the EBDEA, resulting in four first-tier and 21 s-tier criteria. These were compared with the ILAC from the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The comparison revealed a high degree of consistency between the two sets of ILAC, with the EBDEA-generated ILAC including several additional items that are integral to the criteria but absent in IEA's version. Subsequently, expert evaluation was employed to affirm the effectiveness of the EBDEA, with the majority of experts expressing satisfaction with the ILAC developed via this method. The findings indicate that EBDEA is an efficient approach for developing ILAC, requiring less time and fewer human resources.
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Waste management systems have always been considered complex. Scholars have studied waste management mostly from a macro perspective for a long time, considering waste management policies as a fraction of this complex system. This study presents the causal variables and feedback relationships related to waste management from another perspective, from the inside of a policy, using the macroscopic ideas of Environment-based design (EBD) and the system dynamics pictorial representation. It clarifies the way in which policy acts on waste management systems and provides a new perspective for subsequent research on waste management policy.KeywordsPolicy modelEnvironment-based design (EBD)System dynamicsVariablesFeedback diagram
The Delphi method is an iterative, anonymous, group-based process for eliciting and aggregating opinion on a topic to explore the existence of consensus among experts. The year 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the first peer-reviewed journal article on the Delphi method. Originally developed for operations research, this method is now applied extensively by researchers representing diverse scientific fields. We used a bibliometric analysis to describe general trends in the expansion of its use across disciplines over time. We conducted a systematic literature search for all English-language, peer-reviewed journal articles on the Delphi method through its first 60 years. We found 19,831 articles: 96.8% (n = 19,204) on the actual use of the Delphi method in an empirical study and 3.2% (n = 627) describing, examining, or providing some guidance on how to use the Delphi method. Almost half (49.9%) of all articles were published in the 2010s and an additional third (32.5%) in the first few years of the 2020s. Nearly two-thirds (65%, n = 12,883) of all published articles have appeared in medical journals, compared to 15% in science and technology (n = 3,053) or social science (n = 3,016) journals. We conclude that the expanded use of the Delphi method has been driven largely by the medical field, though social scientists and technologists continue to be at the forefront of methodological work on the Delphi method. Therefore, we call for greater transdisciplinary collaboration on methodological guidance and standards for the Delphi method.
This study investigated the influence of information literacy (IL) skills on students' information seeking behaviour and lifelong learning skills in Higher Educational institutions in Ghana, with particular reference to the University of Cape Coast (UCC). Using a mixed method approach, 278 students from the College of Education Studies, UCC were sampled for the study. The components of the American College and Research Library (ACRL) model was used to measure the information literacy competence level of the students. A content and bibliographic evaluation of students’ research projects were conducted using document analysis. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between information literacy skills and information seeking behaviour of students from data collected through questionnaires, interviews and document analysis. The results revealed that respondents had developed substantial skills in information literacy and lifelong learning skills and thus adopted positive attitudes in information seeking. The paper concludes that majority of the students were confident users of information. The study recommends that academic libraries should make available a wide array of information sources and deliberately run programmes to introduce students to those information sources as a way of building their competency levels in information literacy.
Design is a highly nonlinear chaotic dynamic process with many possible solutions, which requires enormous knowledge for designers. This paper investigates how environment-based design (EBD) methodology can help designers use only necessary knowledge for their creativity based on three methods: information search, knowledge acquisition and knowledge application. The methods are applied in an aircraft pylon design, which is evaluated by two aerospace design specialists. The paper discussed the different roles of EBD for novice and expert designers in regard to overcoming emotion and knowledge barriers to achieving designer creativity.
Existing data quality criteria often focus on the quality of the data itself while overlooking other aspects such as the relevance between data and downstream tasks. Furthermore, prior to data collection, policy-makers lack ground truths or labelled data, and are unable to filter data using quantitative criteria. To ensure the collection of reliable, necessary, and sufficient data for policy-making, this study derives a data-driven policy-making framework from Environment-based Design (EBD). Based on the framework, we present five qualitative criteria called RULER (Reliable, Uncoupled, Lifecycle, Environment, Relevant) to evaluate and filter data for data-driven waste management and policy-marking. A case study from Beijing, China shows how to apply these criteria, through which a relatively reliable, sufficient, and necessary data list is given as result.
Information literacy is highly essential in this contemporary society due to rapid technological change and proliferation of information resources. To obtain authentic, valid and reliable information, one needs to be information literate. Information literacy is a skill for moving awareness about text-based learning to e-resource based learning. The present study is undertaken to find out the extent of information literacy skills of the P.G students of St. Thomas College, Palai in utilizing information resources. The study investigated the level of awareness of the P G students about different sources of information and assessed the ability of P.G students to search, locate, retrieve and evaluate the information. The study also determines the impact of information literacy on use of library information services and the role of libraries in information literacy skills. Suggestions have been given for empowering the students with information literacy skills.
Utilization of social media sites such as Traveloka can help hotel marketing by providing information as review related to search and hotel bookings online. The given review could be a feedback to the related hotel as well as to assist visitors in choosing the right hotel. Feedback information as a review is important data text, so we need to develop a method to classifiy it then the right method used for classifying text data is text mining. Sources of data are obtained from web scraping process which aims to obtain online data on website page by collecting visitor review’s of Favehotel and Gunawangsa Hotel from Traveloka sites. Text mining methods used in this study is Naïve Bayes Classifier (NBC) and Binary Logistic Regression which is the process of sentiment labeling based on Lexicon dictionary. Word cloud visualization shows that the highest keywords that lead to the both of the hotel with the largest positive sentiment are ‘clean’ and ‘comfortable’. A comparison methods between NBC and Binary Logistic Regression for Favehotel and Gunawangsa Hotel obtained a decision that Binary Logistic Regression method with SMOTE was better than NBC where AUC value in testing data for Favehotel is 0.84 and Hotel Gunawangsa is 0.82.
The research aims to determine the assessment criteria and the role of education stakeholders in supporting the achievement of elementary school teachers' achievement programs Using a multi-site approach and survey with research respondents consisting of teachers, principals, supervisors, Teacher Working Groups and (KKG) education offices that receive teacher championship performed in
This paper presents an accurate and effective method, namely, the improved artificial tree algorithm based on the Green’s kernel function method (IAT-GKFM), to identify the load in time domain. The forward problem of load identification is constructed by using the Green’s kernel function method. The forward problem is discretized using the time domain Galerkin method, where a matrix form for load identification is formed. The IAT algorithm is proposed to solve the inverse multi-dimensions problem in the inverse stage, which aims to minimize the measuring dispersion between the calculated response and the actual response. Several numerical examples are conducted. It is demonstrated that the IAT with high performance can provide more optimum results than those of other compared algorithms. Using this optimized strategy, the loads acting on a simple plate and a vehicle roof are reconstructed successfully. The superiority of IAT-GKFM may motivate the improvement of the other inverse problems.
As information literacy continues in its centrality to many academic libraries' missions, a line of inquiry has developed in response to ACRL's charge to develop information literate citizens. The literature of critical information literacy questions widely held assumptions about information literacy and considers in what ways librarians may encourage students to engage with and act upon information's complex and inherently political nature. This review explores the research into critical information literacy, including critical pedagogy and critiques of information literacy, in order to provide an entry point for this emerging and challenging approach to information literacy.
Assessment literacy is a core professional requirement across educational systems. Hence, measuring and supporting teachers’ assessment literacy have been a primary focus over the past two decades. At present, there are a multitude of assessment standards across the world and numerous assessment literacy measures that represent different conceptions of assessment literacy. The purpose of this research is to (a) analyze assessment literacy standards from five English-speaking countries (i.e., Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, and USA) plus mainland Europe to understand shifts in the assessment landscape over time and across regions and (b) analyze prominent assessment literacy measures developed after 1990. Through a thematic analysis of 15 assessment standards and an examination of eight assessment literacy measures, results indicate noticeable shifts in standards over time yet the majority of measures continue to be based on early conceptions of assessment literacy. Results also serve to define the multiple dimensions of assessment literacy and yield important recommendations for measuring teacher assessment literacy.
This paper summarizes a design methodology - Environment Based Design (EBD) - developed over the last two decades. The EBD stems from the observation that design aims to change an existing environment to a desired one by generating a new artefact. Design starts from the environment, functions for the environment, and brings changes to the environment. This environment changing process implies the recursive evolution of design problems, design knowledge, and design solutions. Three basic activities are included in the EBD: environment analysis, conflict identification, and solution generation. In introducing the EBD, four major requirements for an effective design methodology are firstly formulated from the perspective of the nature of design, cognitive model of design, and the driving force underlying design. The mathematical, semantic and algorithmic foundations of the EBD are then presented to define methods and procedures for solving a design problem. Experimental validation and industrial applications are summarized to show the effectiveness of the EBD. Future research questions are also given in the paper.
This paper summarizes a design methodology — Environment Based Design (EBD) — developed over the last two decades. The EBD stems from the observation that design aims to change an existing environment to a desired one by generating a new artefact. Design starts from the environment, functions for the environment, and brings changes to the environment. This environment changing process implies the recursive evolution of design problems, design knowledge, and design solutions. Three basic activities are included in the EBD: environment analysis, conflict identification, and solution generation. In introducing the EBD, four major requirements for an effective design methodology are firstly formulated from the perspective of the nature of design, cognitive model of design, and the driving force underlying design. The mathematical, semantic and algorithmic foundations of the EBD are then presented to define methods and procedures for solving a design problem. Experimental validation and industrial applications are summarized to show the effectiveness of the EBD. Future research questions are also given in the paper.
This paper shows how to develop a manual for Quality Management System QMS by using a design methodology-Environment Based Design EBD. The EBD includes three interdependent design activities: environment analysis, conflict identification and solution generation. The EBD is particularly effective when customers' wants are not clearly understood where designers can be given the right direction through the analysis of the product's working environment. In the case study presented in this paper, the customer wanted to develop a quality manual for a flow monitoring service. The challenge was that the content and structure of the final manual were not clear to the designers. By taking this task as a design problem, the EBD was applied to analyse the current service including the organization structure, the business processes, and the existing documents. After critical conflicts were identified, the quality manual and a data processing software system were produced for the client. This application of the EBD shows its effectiveness as a generic design methodology.
In response to a request by the guest editors, we have set down our thoughts regarding the evolution of Delphi, beginning with our immersion in the subject in the late 1960s and concluding with some rumination about its future. Our focus is on the changing roles of Delphi. Most importantly, with the profound impact of the internet on organizational and community planning systems, it will foster a new age of participation through communication, coordination, and collaboration.
This paper, first of the two parts series, addresses a science-based approach to the study of design processes. Design process is an evolving process that begins with design requirements and ends with product descriptions. A general design governing equation is proposed to characterize the design process. We also proposed a design process model that embodies synthesis and evaluation processes, design problem redefinition process, and design decomposition process. The basis of the design process model is primitive design which is formalized as a six-step process. Any design problem can be decomposed into primitive designs. Utilizing the design representation scheme we established using set theory, the design process is mathematically formulated and formalized. The detailed explanations are provided to illustrate the design governing equation, the design process model and the mathematical formulation.
In an era of huge volume of publications and information products, information literacy has become a very important survival tool. Information literacy is an instrument for individual empowerment that leads one to search for the truth and the desired information for decision making with independence. While creativity is the foundation of sciences and innovation, one of the main functions of universities is expanding the frontiers of knowledge and productions of scientific information. Therefore creativity is more vital and necessary for these kinds of institutions than other organizations. In this regard, this paper investigates the relationship between information literacy and creativity of students at the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences.
This is a correlation-descriptive study. Statistical population was third year students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (1054 individuals) in 2011. Sample size was 250 individuals selected by stratified random Sampling. The instruments for data collection were two questionnaires, an investigator made questionnaire for information literacy and a creativity questionnaire. For questionnaires validity used content validity and for their reliability used Cronbach Alpha Coefficient (r1= 0.95, r2=0.85). SPSS 18 statistical software and descriptive and inferential statistics tests (Frequency distribution tab, Pearson Correlation, T test, Tukey test and ANOVA) were used to analyze data.
The results indicate that mean of information literacy was higher than average and mean of creativity was lower than average. There is a significant multiple correlation between 5 dimensions of information literacy (Ability to determine extent and nature of information, effective and efficient access, critical assessment, ability of purposeful application, ability of understanding legal and economic issues) and creativity in level of (p≤ 0.05). Also mean difference of ability of purposeful application based on gender was significant in level of (p≤ 0.05). It means the ability of purposeful application in male students was more than female students.
We are living in the information age and one of the variables that are associated with creativity is information literacy. The results indicated that the students who are more creative are more information literate and can reach higher goals. Therefore we can contemplate that increasing information literacy in the universities and other scientific education centers plays an important role in teaching and training a creative workforce.
This paper proposes a formal definition of design problem using the axiomatic theory of design modeling. Based on the concept of product system and an informal description of design problem, a design problem is formulated into three parts: environment, structural requirements, as well as performance requirements. On the basis of this formulation, both structural requirements and performance requirements are related to product environment, which is divided into natural, built, and human environments. As a result, product environment is identified as the source of product requirements. An environment-based formulation of design problem is thus developed. This formulation implies that both design problem and design solutions are included in a product system. The design governing equation is formulated to capture the interdependence relation between product problem and product descriptions along the design process. An example of rivet setting tool design is used to illustrate the mathematical formulations throughout the paper. Keywords: mathematical formulation, axiomatic approach, structure of design problem, source of product requirements, product environment, design governing equation.
A new logic scheme called recursive logic is proposed, which is different from the widely accepted logics: deductive logic, inductive logic and abductive logic. It is suggested that recursive logic is the logic of design. The rationality of this proposal is then discussed based on the investigation of the facets of design activity. Finally, it is pointed out that many well-known design methodologies such as the pattern language given by Alexander can find their explanations in this logic scheme.
One of the main affairs in organizations is making use of ICT tools and capabilities in order to integrate information and information systems across the organizations and increase productivity in all levels. For this, there are different enterprise architecture (EA) models, methodologies, and frameworks such as EAP, FEAF, TOGAF, etc. which contribute organizations in achieving an ICT Master Plan. Whereas these methodologies are general and they're not designed for different industries in an expert manner, therefore they might consume much time and cost and cause disintegration in being implemented. In respect to wideness of ICT development activities in organizations and also variety of industries, there is need for ICT reference models for specific industries so that we can consider all technical aspects of developing ICT in organizations and also integrate ICT developing activities to reach e-government. In this paper, we have selected an appropriate ICT technical reference model (TRM) and customized it according to Iran conditions
Eliciting precise and comprehensive product requirements from customers is of critical importance for the success of product development. In this paper, a generic process is proposed for eliciting product requirements by asking questions based on linguistic analysis. The linguistic analysis transforms a text into a graphic language called recursive object model (ROM). Two types of questions are asked in the process. One type of question, generated according to the topological structure of the ROM diagram, is domain-independent whereas the other relies on the domain of product development. A generic template is developed for generating the questions and for determining the sequence in which those questions are asked. The answers to the questions can be sought on the internet, in text books, the dictionary, the designer's own knowledge and experience, the customers and other partners involved in the product development, and/or nature itself. The generation of new questions may be based on the answers that are obtained. A software prototype is developed to support the proposed process. A case study of a rivet-setting tool design is used to illustrate the process of generating questions.
In current Command and Control system design, the concept of information plays a central role. In order to find architectures for situation and threat databases making full use of all dimensions of information, the concept of information awareness must be understood. We consider and define some information attributes: measures of precision, quality and usability, and suggest some uses of these concepts. The analysis is Bayesian. A critical point is where subjective Bayesian probabilities of decision makers meet the objective sensor-related Bayesian assessments of the system. This interface must be designed to avoid credibility problems. 1 Introduction In 1969, general W.C. Westmoreland described the problems of modern IT-supported warfare in an address to the United States Army[27]. This could have been the start for development of a revolution in military a#airs. Thirty years later, the concept is still to be realized, not by full-custom military systems, but by systems with large e...
Background
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are crucial for guiding employees towards organizational goals and providing stakeholders with insights into goal achievement. Developing effective KPIs is particularly challenging for startups due to dynamic environments and limited resources, often requiring extensive domain expertise.
Methods
This study proposes an effective KPI development process using the Environment-Based Design (EBD) methodology. The approach systematically converts an organization's mission statement into KPIs through three steps: generating questions and answers, identifying a performance network, and extracting KPIs. It employs tools like the Recursive Objective Model (ROM) and structured question-asking techniques to aid knowledge acquisition and performance network integration.
Results
The methodology was validated using Flybe's case, Europe's largest regional airline. Two graduate student designers with no aviation experience developed KPIs that were comparable to those in Flybe's 2018 Annual Report, while also addressing additional operational aspects like route attractiveness.
Conclusion
The EBD guided approach reduces reliance on prior domain knowledge, making KPI development accessible to non-experts and enhancing repeatability for experts. Although the study is limited to the airline industry and English-speaking countries, it demonstrates the potential for broader application. Future research should explore the approach in diverse organizational contexts and cultural settings to further validate its effectiveness and adaptability.
Study question
What information does an international group of professionals and egg donors consider relevant and morally necessary for prospective egg donors to provide valid IC?
Summary answer
In the first round, participants considered 56% of the information items relevant (e.g. all legal aspects) and 50% of the items as morally necessary information.
What is known already
Disclosure of relevant and adequate information is essential for IC in medical procedures like egg donation (ED). However, studies reveal inadequate risk awareness among donors. This raises questions about the adequacy of the provided information. The “Egg Donor Informed Consent Tool” aims to assess donors’ understanding of the ED process and its risks. However, Skillner et al. developed the tool exclusively with American endocrinologists and donors and do not touch upon all legal aspects or alternative hormone stimulation. No international study to date has determined what information professionals and egg donors consider relevant and morally necessary for prospective donors.
Study design, size, duration
This modified Delphi study used a survey in an iterative process of three rounds to reach a consensus on what information items are relevant and morally necessary for a valid informed consent of candidate egg donors. Invitations to participate were sent out in November 2023 and the first round lasted six weeks. Reminders and additional invitations were sent out every two weeks. Currently (January 2024), we are preparing the second round with 35 professional participants
Participants/materials, setting, methods
The 35 participants were experts in ED across diverse fields (social and medical sciences, bioethics, psychology, fertility medicine and law) from 14 countries. The egg donor part of round one is ongoing.
The survey consisted of 13 categories and 118 information items, which participants score for relevance via a 4-point Likert scale and moral necessity on a dichotomous scale (yes/no). Content Validity Index (CVI) will be calculated for measuring relevance. A comment section was available.
Main results and the role of chance
Research shows that high content validity (“consensus”) is reached when there is an I-CVI (CVI per item) of .78 or higher. The same cut-off was selected to reach consensus for Moral Necessity. The following results are based on the first round, results from all three rounds will be presented at the congress. For 58 out of 131 information items, the I-CVI was lower than 0.78. The percentage of moral necessity was below 0.78 for 65 items. The relevancy for the total survey (S-CVI/Ave) for the first round was 0.80. Four information items reached a CVI of 1: all experts thought it was relevant for a candidate donor to know that 1) the need to undergo ovarian stimulation and 2) a pick-up procedure, as well as 3) her legal rights over the donated eggs after the pick-up procedure and 4) her legal right to withdraw consent. The latter is the only information item that scored a 100% of Moral Necessity. All 16 information items in the categories “issues concerning multiple donations”, “legal aspects” and “financial aspects” reached a consensus in relevance, but two of these items’ did not reach the cut-off of 0.78 for moral necessity.
Limitations, reasons for caution
There was a relatively low response rate of 24 percent, which can be attributed to the demographics of our population. These professionals typically have limited availability for participation and for some professionals the email addresses we found were outdated.
Wider implications of the findings
The final results can give professionals a standard of essential information to provide to make sure the women are adequately informed and know what to expect when they decide to donate. It also gives researchers a potential standard to evaluate the quality of the informed consent in fertility clinics.
Trial registration number
Not applicable
In response to evolving societal and technical demands, this research explores the dynamic landscape of product evolution, focusing on the case study of braking systems. Acknowledging the critical role of product evolution analysis in design phases, the study introduces the Environment-Based Design (EBD) methodology. EBD emphasizes environmental analysis before delving into product specifics, employing tools like Recursive Object Model (ROM) diagrams and questioning-and-answering analyses. The paper systematically unfolds with a literature review highlighting various design methodologies, followed by the EBD application in a braking system evolution analysis. Trends in environment components are dissected, emphasizing the increasing influence of the human environment. The discussion underlines the significance of analyzing environment components in product evolution and asserts EBD’s applicability. Despite limitations, such as the exclusive focus on braking systems, the study contributes to understanding product evolution dynamics and advocates for the continued exploration of EBD across diverse products and cultural contexts.
This paper proposes a novel framework for building semantic networks from a seed design statement using Recursive Object Modeling (ROM), Word2Vec language modelling, and vector semantic-based method. Semantic Scholar API was used to retrieve abstracts of scientific papers to build ROM-based Semantic Networks to address the design problem implied in the seed design statement, following Environment Analysis from Environment-Based Design (EBD) methodology. The proposed framework was applied to construct the semantic network for a project to design aircraft braking systems, which demonstrates the framework's efficiency. The presented research makes two major contributions: a ROM-based phrase extractor and a domain-specific language model, which is trained on the automatically collected literature abstracts. Using a manually created and assessed truth set containing 100 pairs of abstract-key phrases, the phrase extractor was evaluated by benchmarking it with two existing off-the-shelf key phrase extraction algorithms: TextRank and Rake. The ROM-based phrase extractor extracted most key phrases from target domains and showed higher precision, recall, and F-1 scores than other methods. Meanwhile, the trained project-specific language model was evaluated using the NASA thesaurus. We randomly sampled 457 pairs of connected domain-specific terms related to aircraft braking and landing knowledge. Our Skip-gram model was compared with Google's pre-trained word2vec model and a baseline word2vec model. The results demonstrated that our language model could detect the most pairs of concepts from the NASA thesaurus. The generated semantic network can be applied to design information retrieval, computer-aided design idea generation, cross-domain communication support system, and designer training tool.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) in terms of knowledge, skill, workload and affect to understand its effectiveness in enabling designers to achieve their optimized mental performance.
Design/methodology/approach
TASKS framework, which aims to capture the causal relations among Task workload, affect, skills, knowledge and mental stress, is adopted as our methodology. The framework supports the analysis of how a methodology influence designer’s affect, skills, knowledge and workload. TRIZ-related publications are assessed using the TASKS framework to identify the barriers and enablers in TRIZ-supported design.
Findings
TRIZ has limitations on its logic and tools. Nevertheless, it could create a beneficial impact on mental performance of designers.
Originality/value
This paper provides a theory-driven TRIZ usability analysis based on the materials in the literature following the TASKS framework. The impact of TRIZ, as an enabler or a barrier, has been analyzed in accomplishing a design task.
As sustainability becomes increasingly important, product design is taking a proactive role in producing products that are both useful and sustainable. This paper introduces and discusses a tool named Environment-based life cycle decomposition (eLCD) to adapt the Environment-based Design (EBD) methodology to sustainable design. The eLCD brings to EBD three major features: 1) a holistic environment structure for sustainable conceptual design, 2) an effective and efficient tool for collecting information for sustainability decision-making, and 3) an analysis tool that takes sustainability as an integral part of the design rather than as a burden. The environment of a product is everything except the product itself, which can be defined in three dimensions, namely, environment types, life cycle events, and life cycle time. The environment types are designated as natural, built (including physical artifact and digital artifact), economic, and social environment. The eLCD provides an effective template for information collection to support the design decision-making process. The effectiveness of eLCD is demonstrated by its application to the upscaling of a wind turbine, where an energy storage system is introduced to make full use of wind energy with the least waste in serving the electricity demand.
The rapid development of remote telemetry, control and communication technologies in smart grids enables the demand side to provide energy flexibility for power grid economy and reliability. The building sector, as a consumer of large amounts of electricity, has various flexible loads that can be effectively utilized for such purposes if buildings and their energy systems are under proper design and control. In this paper, a systematic methodology is proposed for categorizing the building energy flexibility according to different power grid requirements. Considering the requirements of response duration, response direction and response speed (within seconds, minutes, or even longer timescale), the flexibility can be categorized as fast regulation, moderate regulation, load shedding, load shifting and load covering. A comprehensive review is presented to summarize and compare various flexibility sources, their characteristics and capabilities in buildings for providing those five different types of energy flexibility. The analysis of available information technologies and business development indicate great capability and potential of buildings to participate in energy flexibility markets as a practical demand side management instrument. Three major limitations in existing research and energy markets are identified as the major challenges for the future development of energy flexible buildings.
This paper aims to addresses three questions related to conceptual design: 1) Why is environment important? 2) What is environment? and 3) How to analyze environment? Unlike product-, function (affordance)-, or user-centered methodologies, it is argued that the known environment of a product to be designed must be the first thing to be looked at in a conceptual design. The environment can be categorized into three types: the natural, the built and the human. A complete set of environment for a design is implied in the lifecycle of a product to be designed, which can be further defined by lifecycle activities in terms of time. The analysis of environment consists of three activities: 1) determine decision directions by asking design questions based on a design problem statement; 2) clarify the design problem statement by answering questions following the decision direction; and 3) formulate an environment system from a design problem statement. The process is driven by asking the right questions by analyzing the ROM diagram of the design problem statement. The answers to the questions follow the lifecycle analysis of the product and its environment components. This paper completes a detailed procedure for Environment Analysis, which is the one of the three activities in Environment-Based Design (EBD).
Recent entry-to-practice nursing informatics competencies for Registered Nurses in Canada mean nurse educators need educational strategies to promote student competency within the rapidly evolving informatics field. A collaborative research team from three Canadian nursing programs completed a mixed method survey to describe how nursing students used mobile nursing information support and the extent of this support for learning. The Mobile Information Support Evaluation Tool (MISET) assessed Usefulness/Helpfulness, Information Literacy Support, and Use of Evidence-Based Sources. The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed to describe students' perspectives and the ways they used mobile resources in learning situations. Findings suggest nursing students mainly accessed mobile resources to support clinical learning, and specifically for task-oriented information such as drug medication or patient conditions/diagnoses. Researchers recommend a paradigm shift whereby educators emphasize information literacy in a way that supports evidence-based quality care.
Information and communication technology (ICT) literacy education has become an important issue, and the necessity of computational literacy (CL) has been increasing in our growing information society. CL is becoming an important element for future talents, and many countries, including the USA, are developing programs for CL education. Accordingly, Korea’s Ministry of Education has modified the ICT education program created in 2000. The revised curriculum has emphasized computational thinking and informational ethics since 2007. However, in revising the ICT curriculum, we need to develop a new ICT test tool because the previous tool did not include CL. Thus, we developed a new ICT literacy test tool consisting of fundamental concepts, contemporary skills, and CL. We then carried out a test on 40,072 elementary students nationally. To determine the CL level of students, we used the standard level obtained from ten experts using the Angoff method (1971) and analyzed the difference between the standard level and students’ level in the test. The results showed that students’ CL scores were remarkably lower than their scores on fundamental concepts and contemporary skills. We consequently found that the revised ICT curriculum did not apply to the current ICT education domain, implying that we need to develop a strategy to expand CL to different educational fields, which would help researchers and administrators to measure CL in ICT education.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have profoundly changed many aspects of life, including the nature of entertainment, work, communication, education, healthcare, industrial production and business, social relations and conflicts. They have had a radical and widespread impact on our moral lives and hence on contemporary ethical debates. The Cambridge Handbook of Information and Computer Ethics, first published in 2010, provides an ambitious and authoritative introduction to the field, with discussions of a range of topics including privacy, ownership, freedom of speech, responsibility, technological determinism, the digital divide, cyber warfare, and online pornography. It offers an accessible and thoughtful survey of the transformations brought about by ICTs and their implications for the future of human life and society, for the evaluation of behaviour, and for the evolution of moral values and rights. It will be a valuable book for all who are interested in the ethical aspects of the information society in which we live.
There is growing concern over graduating trainee teachers’ insufficient level of Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) literacy. The main purpose of this research was to describe the nature of trainee teachers’ ICT literacy at the beginning
of preservice training: (a) to explore the structure and to identify the main components of ICT-related capabilities, and
(b) to examine possible relationships between these components. Data from trainee teachers’ ICT literacy self-assessment survey
were examined using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. Two elements of ICT-related general cognitive capabilities
and three elements of technical capabilities were identified, respectively: (a) problem solving, (b) communication and metacognition,
(c) basic ICT capabilities, (d) analysis and production with ICT, (e) information and Internet-related capabilities. It was
found that general cognitive and technical capabilities are two separate areas of ICT literacy; however basic ICT capabilities
are an important component of both areas.
Using the resource-based view and the learning organization as its theoretical framework, this study hypothesized that organizations which possessed not only the technical capabilities for automation but also the ability to learn and share information would be most likely to automate their supply chain processes. An empirical study with the top suppliers of a major airline supported this hypothesis. As predicted, both learning capabilities and certain technical capabilities were important in predicting the likelihood of adoption of Ariba, a web-based e-procurement tool.
News media continue to report stories of critical information loss through physical means. Most information security programs include physical protection for information system infrastructure, but not for the physical (non-electronic) forms of the information itself. Thus organizations have persistent critical information vulnerabilities that are not addressed by even the most extensive of information systems security programs.An Information Lifecycle Security Risk Assessment, as described in this paper, can be used to extend the reach of information security programs to encircle all forms of critical data from creation to destruction—even data in human memory form. Such an assessment can leverage existing data management and information systems security efforts. By incorporating both electronic and physical information elements, previously unaddressed information security gaps can be identified and mitigated. The end result should be a risk treatment plan which senior management can understand and approve, and which managers and security personnel can execute.
Throughout the engineering design process, the design problem and design solutions may be represented by natural language, sketches, technical drawings, and process diagrams. Due to its ambiguity and flexibility, natural language processing has not been well integrated into the tools and methods assisting the design process. This paper proposes a new graphic language, called recursive object model (ROM), to represent natural language used in engineering, which are mainly composed by statements. The ROM uses only five basic symbols to represent object, compound object, constraint relationship, predicate relationship and connection relationship. Those five elements are derived mathematically and are proven sufficient for technical English through enumeration. Three case studies addressing different aspects of design are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the ROM.
Developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for a department utilizing environment-based design (EBD) methodology
- M Pan