Christian Navarro-Cota’s research while affiliated with Autonomous University of Baja California and other places

italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">Contribution: This article describes the process used to create a questionnaire to evaluate the usability of mobile learning applications (CECAM). The questionnaire includes specific questions to assess user interface usability and pedagogical usability. Background: Nowadays, mobile applications are expanding rapidly and are commonly used in educational institutions to support the learning and teaching process. But the possible deficient usability could decrease the utility of learning activities and the student’s motivation. Therefore, careful planning and design by the developer are required, along with a usability evaluation of the applications. Research Questions: How could an instrument be developed to evaluate the usability of m-learning applications that combine technical and pedagogical aspects? How can the quality of the developed instrument be determined? Methodology: A structured questionnaire was created like a measuring tool to evaluate and design m-learning applications. Different statistical techniques, including reliability and validity assessments, were employed to evaluate the quality of the instrument, which is determined through the calibration of the CECAM survey. Findings: After the validity analysis of the questionnaire, a scale with 56 items was obtained, with an alpha reliability coefficient of 0.911 (an excellent measuring scale). It pretends to be used by teachers to design or evaluate m-learning applications, improve their usability, and enhance the students’ learning experience.</p

The principles of quantum mechanics – superposition, entanglement, measurement, and decoherence – form the foundation of quantum computing. Qubits, which are abstract objects having a mathematical expression to implement the rules of quantum physics, are the fundamental building blocks of computation. Software is a key component of quantum computing, along with quantum hardware. Algorithms make up software, and they are implemented using logic gates and quantum circuits. These qualities make quantum computing a paradigm that non-physicists find difficult to comprehend. It is crucial to incorporate a conceptual framework of the principles upon which quantum computing is founded into this new method of creating software. In this paper, we present a kind of taxonomical view of the fundamental concepts of quantum computing and the derived concepts that integrate the emerging discipline of quantum software engineering. Because the systematic review's main goal is to identify the core ideas behind quantum computing and quantum software, we conducted a quasi-systematic mapping as part of the review process. The findings can serve as a starting point for computer science teachers and students to address the study of this field.

The coronavirus COVID-19 swept the world in early 2020, working from home was a necessity. In the software industry, thousands of software developers began working from home, many did so on short notice, under difficult and stressful conditions. The emotions of developers can be affected by this situation. On the other hand, some well-known soft skills have been emphasized as required for working remotely. Software engineering research lacks theory and methodologies for addressing human aspects in software development. In this paper, we present an exploratory study focused on the developers’ wellbeing during pandemic, expressed as emotions, and the perceptions of the level in which soft skills are practiced/required in the working from home mode. The results show that high percent expressed to experience positive emotions, however, a portion of respondents expressed to feel negative emotions. In the case of soft skills, some of them are revealed as practiced in high level in working from home, but still there is not consensus.

The need to compete for users’ attention and provide them with the best user experience has increased the use of persuasion strategies in modern systems. Currently, Persuasive Systems (PSs) promote healthy behavior for well-being, energy consumption, and learning. Although the educational domain has limited investigation compared to other areas, PSs in education have been shown to be effective in motivating students. This paper summarizes the existing evidence on Persuasive Educational Systems (PESs), emphasizing research on the current design methods, evaluation methods, and characteristics. We follow Kitchenham’s method to perform a systematic literature review about PESs published between 2014 and 2020, with 19 relevant studies selected. We highlight some results from the analysis of selected papers such as persuasion strategies, use of a personalized persuasion technique, study of students’ susceptibility to strategies, integration of gamification mechanisms, and proposed tools to design PES. Moreover, we discuss interesting facts such as the common practice of using more than one tool to design PES, aspects of interaction, persuasion, learning, and the challenges in evaluating persuasive impact. Finally, as the main contribution of the paper we identify the seven necessary characteristics to build a persuasive educational system.

The objective of the study is to design and validate an instrument that allows organizations to assess their status regarding the adoption of the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) that enable Lean Six Sigma (LSS) implementation in order to achieve the expected benefits. An extensive literature review was conducted to define the LSS CSFs to be considered for the development of the questionnaire that would later be applied throughout manufacturing companies on the northern Mexican border. Once the database was built, a statistical verification of the assumptions required for factor analysis took place. Finally, the due construct validation was carried out to verify whether the proposed instrument measured reliably what it intended to. A questionnaire measuring 9 CSFs, as well as the benefits associated with the implementation of LSS, was designed and validated through 61 items. This study introduces a validated tool for the analysis of LSS CSFs while providing evidence of construct validity and the solid structure of the factors. The main limitations of the study are that the research is cross-sectional and that the study was carried out taking as a reference only exporting manufacturing companies located in the border area between Mexico and the United States. The validated instrument is expected to serve as a useful tool for companies interested in the implementation of LSS.