Development Of Computing Applications Research Articles

Use of computers for educational purposes at the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU)

Abstract University teachers are increasingly confronted with the necessity of using information technology for educational purposes. University policy in the nineties should therefor include stimulation of the use of computers and of the development of educational software. This policy should be based on an assessment of the present use of computers in teaching and learning, and needs of university teachers. At the Wageningen Agricultural University (WAU) this assessment was made through a questionnaire presented to all teachers. The results show that approximately 40% of the teachers use computers for educational purposes, 30% are interested and 30% are indifferent. The main computer applications are in the field of educational tools and exploratory environments. It is concluded that university policy on the introduction of computer use should acknowledge the importance of 1) teacher initiatives 2) exploring the possibilities of information technology, 3) material resources, 4) coordination of different initiatives and 5) a supporting centre with expertise on the use and development of computer applications for educational purposes.

An Assessment of Computer Use, Knowledge, and Attitudes of Diabetes Educators

A questionnaire to survey attitudes, use, and knowledge of computers was sent to 816 randomly selected members of AADE to determine the degree to which currently available computer resources are used in diabetes education and to investigate the need for future computing resources designed to support diabetes education. Analysis of the data showed that even diabetes educators who use computers infrequently have a generally favorable attitude toward them. Highest use of computers is in noneducational applications, mostly for word processing and record keeping. Most respondents believe that computers have yet to make a major contribution to the teaching and learning process in diabetes education, and few felt adequately prepared for creative use or development of computer applications. Increasing the role of computers in support of patient education will require encouragement and demonstrations of computer efficacy from health care institutions and professional organizations.

Data Networking for the European Academic and Research Community: Is It Important?

Spectacular developments in computer network technology and applications are imminent, but European research and industry are unprepared for them. The gigabit testbeds and the NREN plans in the United States and technology developments in Japan are a clear challenge. Europehas a complex pattern of national and international research networks that provide valuableservices for their existing users. The evolution of these networks has been hindered by a variety of regulatory, political, economic, and technical barriers to progress, especially the lack of political focus and the small scale of industrial involvement. This paper analyzes the situation and makes recommendations for the way forward.

Integration algorithm for ordinary differential equations which produces analytical results

Problems of integration of systems of ordinary linear differential equations on large intervals are attracting increasing attention. Such problems include, in particular, problems of celestial mechanics, calculation of asymptotic expansions, and evaluation of special functions for large argument values. The existing methods do not always guarantee high accuracy on large intervals. It is therefore relevant to develop methods whose errors are nonincreasing with the increase of the distance from the initial point and which allow integration of systems of arbitrary order. The developments in computer applications, and primarily the larger memories and faster speeds of modern computers, make it possible to perform symbolic transformations on the data, which produce a solution of the Cauchy problem in formula form. For a wide class of differential equations, this ensures asymptotically nonincreasing errors and also allows some analytical investigations of the solution. Moreover, this provides an opportunity for supplementing the existing libraries and software packages with qualitatively new programs that approximate the solutions of a large class of differential equations [1, 21. Consider a system of N ordinary differential equations ax u) = A (t) × X (t), (1) dt

Application of Computer Technology to Educational Administration in the United States

AbstractThis article describes the evolution of computer applications in support of school administration in the United States. Following a brief overview of the structure and governance of public education in the U.S., the development of administrative computer applications is presented, following the developmental framework presented by Visscher (1991) in the lead article in this issue of the Journal of Research on Computing in Education. Subsequently, the extent of current use of administrative computer applications is discussed, followed by a brief consideration of projected future use of computers in schools.

Current use of software tools in the development of medical and health services computer applications — a Survey

A survey was carried out in order to draw on experience in the UK of the use of software tools to develop medical and health service applications. The main objective was to identify the capabilities and characteristics that might be required in software tools created specifically for this area of applications. The work gives some indications of such requirements, but was constrained by the discovery that so far there has been only limited use of the general-purpose software development tools currently available.

Current Use of Software Tools in the Development of Medical and Health Services Computer Applications – a Survey

A survey was carried out in order to draw on experience in the UK of the use of software tools to develop medical and health service applications. The main objective was to identify the capabilities and characteristics that might be required in software tools created specifically for this area of applications. The work gives some indications of such requirements, but was constrained by the discovery that so far there has been only limited use of the general-purpose software development tools currently available.

An AHP application to computer system selection

Computer application development is an area of explosive growth, providing dramatic new capabilities to do additional work faster and more accurately. In the construction industry, computer aided design and drafting (CADD) systems make it possible to more completely specify work to be done. Some project owners require drawings be submitted in magnetic form. Therefore, it is necessary for construction and engineering firms to acquire and develop expertise in state of the art computer systems. Because many system configurations are available, selection of CADD systems is an important decision, requiring consideration of a number of objectives. AHP is used to combine cost factors with subjective factors. AHP also is used to consider the impact on end users as a group and an central data processing.

Using a touchscreen for simple tasks

This work was done in the context of an interdisciplinary project (called ITS) aimed at producing new tools for computer application development. One motivation is to provide designers with a computer-based toolkit from which they can select human-computer interaction techniques appropriate to various contexts and conditions. These experiments extend our work to touchscreens, and provide a basis of comparison with keyboards and arrow keys. Three human-computer interaction methods, including basic entry and autocompletion, were studied in two simple laboratory scenarios: participants specified dates and airlines reservations. Autocompletion was preferred over, and was faster than, basic entry. The a priori countable, minimum number of touches required to use a particular interaction method is a good predictor of how much time people will need to use that interaction method on a particular task. Similar results were found previously with keyboards and arrow keys.

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Authors

A Survey of Computer Use Reported in Teaching of Psychology: 1974–1988

During the past 15 years, the computer has evolved from a simple drill-and-practice device to a flexible instrument for teaching psychological concepts and techniques. Readily available commercial and public domain software makes computer technology the choice for many teaching applications. This article surveys computer use and the changing role of teachers in the development of computer applications and introduces the Computers in Teaching section of Teaching of Psychology (ToP).

Authors

Authors

Its a New Method for Computer Application Development and Prototyping

Perhaps the one thing that user interface designers most want is tools that will help them (a) quickly visualize their work; (b) carry it out more efficiently and faster; and (c) do iterative design; and (d) allow them to do more work without the need of programmers. An on-going research project (called ITS) is responding to these challenges by developing software tools for user interface and application development, together with providing a run-time environment for application execution. There are four key concepts. First, ITS separates the style of an application from the content of an application. Human-computer interface styles are general, rule-based, under parameter control, and designed to handle a variety of applications. Second, ITS envisions four general work roles in application design and development: content experts, content programmers, style experts, and style programmers. Third, end users do four operations: make choices, fill in forms, manipulate lists, and read information blocks. Fourth, ITS aims at creating software tools for each work role.

Digital image processing of Remote Sensing data for water quality studies

Remotely sensed data has been found useful in various aspects of hydrology like sedimentation, water quality watershed management, flood and drought monitoring, ground water resources evaluation etc. With the fast development of computer applications to image processing and availability of low cost image processing systems, digital image processing methods supplemented by visual interp etation aids will be useful for effective utilization of Remote Sensing data. Application of various digital image processing along with using a low cost image processing system for detailed study of water quality parameters is discussed. Studies have been conducted in a sample revervoir to obtain suitable digital image processing techniques for achieving better visual separability within the reservoir water. An overview of semiquantification of sediment concentration in the reservoir water using computer aided processing methods is presented in this paper.

Using the Systems Development Life Cycle for Computer Applications in Human Services

This paper examines the systems development life cycle (SDLC) as one major way to improve successful development, implementation and use of computer applications in human services. The systems development life cycle of a hospital-based case management system is described to demonstrate a successful system. Issues of the uniqueness of human services applications, the use of microcomputer technology, and prototyping as an alternative to the SDLC are analyzed in relation to the case study.

Relationships among structure, process, and outcome scores derived from evaluations of 300 general dental practices

Analyses were undertaken to examine relationships among measures of structure, process, and outcome using data obtained during field testing of the Development of Evaluation Methods and Computer Applications in Dentistry (DEMCAD) office assessment instrument in 300 general dental practices. Correlation coefficients between scores for the structure dimension and scores for the process/outcome dimensions were 0.50 and 0.40, respectively, while process and outcome dimension scores were correlated at an even higher level (r = 0.79). Thus the DEMCAD instrument demonstrated a relatively high degree of interrelationship among these three major dimensions compared to other reports in the health care evaluation literature. Additional analyses were conducted to compare relationships between structure and process measures and various components of outcome, and to compare results across different types of practices (urban group, rural and urban nongroup). Correlations between the patient satisfaction component of outcome and scores for the structure/process dimensions were considerably lower than the corresponding correlations involving outcome components other than patient satisfaction. Ordinary least squares regression models demonstrated that structure scores were not significantly related to outcomes when controlling for process and that relationships were quite consistent across practice types.

Development of computer applications in Chinese information centers

This paper summarizes the development of computer appli cations in information services in China. Meaningful progress has been made only during the last ten years. Possible techni cal reasons, apart from the political turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, are discussed. China's automation endeavors have made a successful step forward due to efforts toward stan dardization and coordination for information computerization. There has been much experimental work involving computer processing of materials in Chinese scripts. Specific attempts at information retrieval with national and international databases have presented problems, some of which have been solved and some of which have not.

Factors of success for end-user computing

A two-phase study concerned with the factors of success associated with the development of computer applications by end users was conducted in 10 large organizations. During the first phase, in-depth interviews were used to refine a preliminary model of the factors of success for user development of computer applications (UDA). In the second phase, a questionnaire was administered to 272 end users experienced in developing applications. Statistical tests of the relationships in the model indicated that all but one of the derived hypotheses were substantiated. The result of this study is a field-verified model of the factors of success of UDA that provides a basis for implementation of UDA practices and policies in organizations, as well as for further research in end-user computing.

The development of computer applications by non‐employed people in community settings*

As information technology becomes an increasingly central feature in society, computerized information and the skills to access and transform it become valued commodities. This paper reports on the evaluation of a project, using action research, which aims to provide non‐employed people with access to IT in local community centres, thus encouraging the development of computer applications which are relevant to their community. It thereby differs from other studies of unemployment in that the emphasis is shifted away from documenting psychologically harmful effects to evaluating the potential of an intervention strategy. The approach also focuses on an analysis of groups and organizations within the community, rather than concentrating exclusively on individuals. The evaluation and progress of the project over the first 18 months are described. This includes training in computing skills and the development of computer applications such as databases.‘Most of us here are unemployed, but we know from the very basics we've been taught that we can use the computer for our gains’.Unemployed person, South Yorkshire, mid‐1980s

Development of computer applications in Chinese information centers

Development of computer applications in Chinese information centers