RE Practice Research Articles

Reframing curriculum for religious education

ABSTRACT This article arises out of work undertaken within the After Religious Education project. It synthesizes the curriculum expertise of established researchers, with the expertise of current teachers of RE in England. A question drives our shared interests: how should we approach curriculum development in RE and how do we justify the approach taken? The article proceeds in three steps. First, we elaborate, contextualize, and justify this question by introducing varied approaches to the curriculum production in RE. We argue that these approaches lack a foundational influence from general didactics: an understanding of subject matter that is informed by distinctively educational theory. Addressing this omission, the second step presents an alternative approach to RE established on the ‘Bildung/didactic’ tradition, and the specific general didactic analysis of Klafki. Third, we explore this approach in relation to two teaching contexts, modelling these applications, and the principles they exemplify. We demonstrate the value of synthesizing theoretical and practical expertise for RE theory and practice.

Developing an improved reverse engineering adoption model towards the improvement of performance in metal engineering industries

Purpose: This research aims to develop an improved model that promotes reverse engineering /RE/ practice in metal engineering industries (MEIs). RE is one cost-effective technology transfer /TT/ and innovation method that improves organizational performance. However, only a few scholars have written on the adoption of RE models, and no one has contextualized TT and innovation models as a means to adopt RE practice. Methodology: Primarily, the study conducted a systematic literature review based on previous works to develop a conceptual model for RE adoption. To do this, the researchers conducted an intensive literature review and identified factors contributing to the model. Contextualizing TT and innovation factors and models within the new RE adoption model is also a significant part of the work. After a comparative analysis, the researchers developed the improved RE adoption model that enhances the performance of MEIs. Finding: The majority of previous related literature focuses on RE hardware, with only a few authors acknowledging the soft aspects, i.e., managerial and legal issues of RE practice. Besides, no authors contextualized factors of TT and innovation within the RE adoption. In this study, the researchers identified and clustered RE adoption factors as organizational, technological, managerial, and resource-based from previous RE adoption models and contextualization of TT and innovation adoption factors. Originality: To the best of the writers’ knowledge, no previous authors have contextualized TT and innovation models within the adoption of RE. However, such models have a substantial impact on adopting the practice. Hence, the researchers developed an improved model by examining and contextualizing the existing models that can impact MEI performance through improving product, process, and technological capabilities.

The inconsistency between theory and practice in managing inconsistency in requirements engineering

The problem of inconsistency in requirements engineering has been in the spotlight of the RE community from the early 1990s. In the early years, inconsistency was perceived in the literature as a problem that needs to be eliminated on sight. More recently, it has become recognized that maintaining consistency at all times is not only infeasible, but also even counterproductive. Based on this recognition, paradigms and tools have been proposed in the RE literature for managing inconsistency. However, over the same period, inconsistency as perceived and managed in practice has not received much attention. Our research aims to better understand the phenomenon of inconsistency and the strategies to address it in RE practice. This paper describes an empirical study investigating practitioners’ perceptions of inconsistency manifestations in RE, their attitudes towards these manifestations, and strategies they apply to address them. The findings of this research led to the two contributions: (a) an explanation of how the ideas of the RE field about managing RE inconsistency are reflected in practitioners’ perceptions of the inconsistency that they encounter in their daily work, and (b) the identification of some barriers that appear to be hindering practitioners’ adoption of the RE field’s inconsistency management strategies, together with possible reasons underlying these barriers.

The Important Role of People, Process and Technology during Software Project Requirement

The need of organisation is to enhance the services through Malaysian Public Sector system application. This paper described the role of people, process and technology during software project requirement in Malaysian Public Sector. We have done the survey to the IT Manager in Malaysian Public Sector. The Public Sector IT Manager contributed their working experienced and knowledge for the survey. The purpose of the survey is to determine the RE practice that implemented during software project requirement. We also determine the role for people, process and technology during the software project requirement. The result shows that 79.7 percent of IT Manager in Malaysia Public Sector has roles in software project requirement such as project leader, project manager and team leader. Some of them have to be a consultant to other agency or organization. They play their roles in business rules, business process indirectly.

‘Does RE work?’ An analysis of the aims, practices and models of effectiveness of religious education in the UK

Possibly the largest qualitative study in RE policy and practice in many years, the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society project ‘Does RE work? An analysis of the aims, practices and models of effectiveness in religious education in the UK’, headed by the University of Glasgow, seeks to map the complex processes of curriculum formation as experienced in practice in a range of schools across the UK. Employing an ethnographic model of enquiry, combined with practitioner research, the project seeks to investigate the meanings and intentions of RE in the school contexts in which they are situated. Initial draft findings from the project are presented, along with methodological considerations and future research directions for the interdisciplinary team.

Implementing Requirements Engineering Processes: Using Cooperative Self-Assessment and Improvement

Requirements engineering can help assure success for projects and their products. Small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) demand effective, efficient RE practice because they must adhere to delivery dates and provide the same quality as large organizations, but with a smaller budget and staff. Moreover, these companies are highly affected by each customer's specific needs, and they must react accordingly.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) patient education – effectiveness of lecture series compared to providing patient with written materials for self-learning

The purpose of this study was to determine the best method of providing education to patients seen in our RE practice and to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of providing a lecture series vs. giving patients self-learning packets. The topic selected for patient education was PCOS. Prospective study. Approximately 30% of the patients seen at our RE practice have PCOS. An education series consisting of 4 independent evening lectures presented over a period of 3 months on PCOS and its impact on health, nutrition, exercise and mental health were offered. Attendees completed a questionnaire to determine if the information was beneficial. Costs included advertising, speaker fees, handouts, refreshments, conference room fees, planning and administrative time. 40 patients with PCOS that didn't attend any of the series received a self-learning packet. This included an introductory letter, written PCOS information, a questionnaire and a stamped return envelope. Patients were asked to read the information and return the questionnaire by a set date. Costs associated with this included postage, handouts, planning and administration time. Approximately 120 patients are seen in our office weekly. The series was advertised through posters, handouts, our newsletter and the newspaper. Information about the series was also mailed to 4 local, private practices. Lecture #1 had 8 attendees, Lecture #2 had 7, Lecture #3 had 4, and Lecture #4 had 5. Of those, 11 patients attended only 1 lecture, 3 patients attended 2, 1 patient attended 3 and 1 attended all 4 lectures. Patients reported the presentation met their expectations. Of the 40 patients who received the self-learning packet, only 7 returned the questionnaires. They reported the information was helpful. 4 stated they would prefer their educational information from a website. Our results suggest that offering either lectures or self-learning packets are not cost effective ways of educating our patients. Patients faced with infertility and treatment can be overwhelmed with the commitments their treatment requires. Although patients may find the information beneficial, taking time to attend an optional offering may be the barrier to attendance. Although the self-learning packets would seem to eliminate that, based on the return rate this is also not an efficient use of our education money. Further analysis will be done to determine the best options.

The methodological soundness of requirements engineering papers: a conceptual framework and two case studies

This paper was triggered by concerns about the methodological soundness of many RE papers. We present a conceptual framework that distinguishes design papers from research papers, and show that in this framework, what is called a research paper in RE is often a design paper. We then present and motivate two lists of evaluation criteria, one for research papers and one for design papers. We apply both of these lists to two samples drawn from the set of all submissions to the RE’03 conference. Analysis of these two samples shows that most submissions of the RE’03 conference are design papers, not research papers, and that most design papers present a solution to a problem but neither validate this solution nor investigate the problems that can be solved by this solution. We conclude with a discussion of the soundness of our results and of the possible impact on RE research and practice.

Is the European industry moving toward solving requirements engineering problems?

This article gives an informal overview of the situation of European companies regarding requirements engineering. It reviews what progress the industry has made with respect to the requirements-related problems identified years ago and calls attention to the gap between RE practice and the solutions provided by research. The authors aim to determine whether the same problems still exist today, even though potential solutions have been provided in the literature for some time.

Where do requirements come from?

What should a product do? What qualities should it have? How do we determine these requirements for new generations of products? Requirements engineering is an activity in which a wide variety of stakeholders work together to answer these questions. The answers do not arrive by themselves, there is a need to-ask, observe, discover, and increasingly create requirements. If we want to build competitive and imaginative products that avoid re-implementing the obvious, we must make creativity part of the requirements process. Indeed, the importance of creative thinking is expected to increase over the next decade. Unfortunately, most RE research and practice does not recognize this important trend. We highlight some important information sources for creativity and innovation and present some useful examples of creative RE as references to guide and inspire readers.