Web-based Environment Research Articles

Dynamic Problem-Solving Processes in a Web-Based Cooperative Learning Environment for an Accounting Course

This study investigated the dynamic processes involved in problem solving in a web-based cooperative learning environment implemented for a university accounting course. 54 students were recruited in a 4-year hospitality management program. The messages of participants in group discussions were counted and categorized to investigate the dynamic processes of problem-solving employed by students. These dialogues and follow-up interviews revealed a number of interesting findings: (1) students felt that the web-based cooperative learning environment was similar to a social network; (2) peer-interaction in web-based cooperative learning is highly beneficial; (3) the course of study may influence the nature of problem-solving messages; (4) the teaching method could alter the cognitive level of problem-solving; (5) a co-working style was the most common approach employed in the web-based cooperative learning environment; (6) cooperative learning is becoming increasingly popular in education; (7) technological developments can be expected to boost the adoption of web-based cooperative learning.

REVIEW OF WEB-ORIENTED COMPILER THAT SHOULD BE USED IN UNDERGRADUATE INFORMATICS

The article is devoted to the problem of preparing future bachelors of computer science, in particular for the discipline «Programming». The analysis of the curricula for the preparation of bachelors of informatics has made it possible to conclude that one of the peculiarities of the preparation of bachelors of computer science is the study of several programming languages. This is explained by the fact that the majority of graduates of this specialty go to work not only teachers of computer science, but also programmers in the IT company. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: the study of the practical experience of using web-oriented technologies for the training of the basics of programming of future computer science students; systematization and generalization for determination of criteria and indexes of selection. A survey conducted among the directors and managers of IT companies, computer science teachers, and program tutors showed that popular programming languages are currently available: Java, C ++, C#, PHP, JavaScript. For the study of several programming languages, it is not always convenient to use different compilers for different programming languages. After all, getting acquainted with the new compiler takes time, and not always the compiler is convenient for the end user (programmer). It is precisely to avoid such moments that web-based compilers are constantly being created and updated. The analysis of various web-based compilers that are available for use are: Cpp.Sh, stacked-crooked.com, Onlinecompiler, Codepad.org, WandBox, ideone.com, Codechef, tutorialspoint.com, and the cloud-based development environment AWS Cloud 9. Their advantages and disadvantages are presented. It is established that the compilers considered simplify the work on finding the necessary programming environment, providing study of different programming languages in a single web-based environment.

SoS Notebook: an interactive multi-language data analysis environment.

MotivationComplex bioinformatic data analysis workflows involving multiple scripts in different languages can be difficult to consolidate, share and reproduce. An environment that streamlines the entire processes of data collection, analysis, visualization and reporting of such multi-language analyses is currently lacking.ResultsWe developed Script of Scripts (SoS) Notebook, a web-based notebook environment that allows the use of multiple scripting language in a single notebook, with data flowing freely within and across languages. SoS Notebook enables researchers to perform sophisticated bioinformatic analysis using the most suitable tools for different parts of the workflow, without the limitations of a particular language or complications of cross-language communications.Availability and implementationSoS Notebook is hosted at http://vatlab.github.io/SoS/ and is distributed under a BSD license.

Interactive visual exploration and analysis of origin-destination data

Abstract. In this paper, we propose a visual analytics approach for the exploration of spatiotemporal interaction patterns of massive origin-destination data. Firstly, we visually query the movement database for data at certain time windows. Secondly, we conduct interactive clustering to allow the users to select input variables/features (e.g., origins, destinations, distance, and duration) and to adjust clustering parameters (e.g. distance threshold). The agglomerative hierarchical clustering method is applied for the multivariate clustering of the origin-destination data. Thirdly, we design a parallel coordinates plot for visualizing the precomputed clusters and for further exploration of interesting clusters. Finally, we propose a gradient line rendering technique to show the spatial and directional distribution of origin-destination clusters on a map view. We implement the visual analytics approach in a web-based interactive environment and apply it to real-world floating car data from Shanghai. The experiment results show the origin/destination hotspots and their spatial interaction patterns. They also demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach.

Exploring the impacts of interactions, social presence and emotional engagement on active collaborative learning in a social web-based environment

This study examines the influence of social presence, interactions (student-student and teacher-student) and emotional engagement on active learning within the context of social web-based collaborative learning (SWBCL). In order to accomplish this objective, an empirical study was conducted with 416 students from two universities, organized into groups of 4 or 5 students, who were instructed to complete a collaborative project over the course of one semester. At the end of the project, the students filled out a questionnaire and the resulting data was analyzed using the partial least squares (PLS) technique. The results suggest that social presence and teacher-student interaction have a positive influence on students' active learning, both directly and indirectly, through emotional engagement. This variable also mediates the influence of student-student interactions, which have a less significant impact on active learning than the other analyzed variables. Consequently, this study offers important contributions to the study and practice of active learning in a SWBCL environment.

Modeling and visualizing semantic and spatio-temporal evolution of topics in interpersonal communication on Twitter

ABSTRACT Interpersonal communication on online social networks has a significant impact on the society by not only diffusing information, but also forming social ties, norms, and behaviors. Knowing how the conversational discourse semantically and geographically vary over time can help uncover the changing dynamics of interpersonal ties and the digital traces of social events. This article introduces a framework for modeling and visualizing the semantic and spatio-temporal evolution of topics in a spatially embedded and time-stamped interpersonal communication network. The framework consists of (1) a topic modeling workflow for modeling topics and extracting the evolution of conversational discourse; (2) a geo-social network modeling and smoothing approach to projecting connection characteristics and semantics of communication onto geographic space and time; (3) a web-based geovisual analytics environment for exploring semantic and spatio-temporal evolution of topics in a spatially embedded and time-stamped interpersonal communication network. To demonstrate, geo-located and reciprocal user mention and reply tweets over the course of the 2016 primary and presidential elections in the United States from 1 August 2015 to 15 November 2016 were analyzed. The large portion of the topics extracted from mention tweets were related to daily life routines, human activities, and interests such as school, work, sports, dating, wearing, birthday celebration, music, food, and live-tweeting. Specific focus on the analysis of political conversations revealed that the content of conversational discourse was split between civil rights and election-related discussions of the political campaigns and candidates. These political topics exhibited major shifts in terms of content and the popularity in reaction to primaries, debates, and events throughout the study period. While civil rights discussions were more dominant and in higher intensity across the nation and throughout the whole time period, election-specific conversations resulted in temporally varying local hotspots that correlated with locations of primaries and events.

Building web-based services for practical exercises in parallel and distributed computing

The paper presents an approach to the design and implementation of web-based environments for practical exercises in parallel and distributed computing (PDC). The presented approach introduces minimal development and operational costs by relying on Everest, a general-purpose platform for building computational web services. The flexibility of proposed service-oriented architecture enables the development of different types of services targeting various use cases and PDC topics. The generic execution services support the execution of different types of parallel and distributed programs on corresponding computing systems, while the assignment evaluation services implement the execution and evaluation of solutions to programming assignments. As was demonstrated by teaching two introductory PDC courses, the presented approach helps to enhance students’ practical experience while avoiding low-level interfaces, reducing the grading time and providing a level of automation necessary for scaling the course to a large number of students. In contrast to other efforts, the exploited Platform as a Service model provides the ability to quickly reuse this approach by other PDC educators without installation of the Everest platform.

Toward a disaster risk assessment and mapping in the virtual geographic environment of Armenia

This paper presents the results of a research aiming natural and technological hazard, and risk assessment and mapping in Web-based holistic geographic environment, and the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 in Armenia. A common spatial multi-criteria evaluation method was used for natural and technological hazard, risk and population vulnerability assessments. The virtual geographic environment developed by the authors during the previous period of investigations was upgraded and used for the implementation of this research. It involves the following components: 1. geodatabase, 2. modeling and simulation, 3. interface for digital mapping, 4. metadata, 5. Web–based network service for collaboration. Moreover, the country specific natural and technological hazard, risk and population vulnerability assessment methods were developed, implemented, and appropriate digital maps were created.

Research and Analysis on Reading by College Students in the Era of Mobile Reading

With the increasing advancement and popularity of electronic media, traditional reading mode and book purchase means have been updated and upgraded. As a big consumer of books, the college student group plays a double- complementary role in the marching force that drives this “revolution”. When the habit of holding a book and reading it at night is replaced by web-based virtual environment, readers have sharply recognize such trend, the internet has changed the perception of people on the time-space relationship. It causes changes in the “relationship among  human  beings”.  The  characteristics  of untouchable mode for the internet will really impact the daily life of the general public and event invoke our multi-dimension thinking of individuals themselves and external environment. The internet is promoting “him” and “them” to get close to each other with an invisible force and the reading trend of internet literature is emerging gradually.

Comparative Case Studies on Indonesian Higher Education Rankings

The quality of the higher education is the result of a continuous process. There are many indicators that can be used to assess the quality of a higher education. The existence of different indicators makes the different result of university rankings. This research aims to find variables that can connect ranking indicators that are used by Indonesian Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education with indicators that are used by international rankings by taking two kind of ranking systems i.e. Webometrics and 4icu. This research uses qualitative research method with comparative case studies approach. The result of the research shows that to bridge the indicators that are used by Indonesian Ministry or Research, Technology, and Higher Education with web-based ranking system like Webometrics and 4icu so that the Indonesian higher education institutions need to open access towards either scientific or non-scientific that are publicly used into web-based environment. One of the strategies that can be used to improve the openness and access towards scientific work of a university is by involving in open science and collaboration.

Development of a Web-based Front-end Environment to Aid Programming Lectures on Unix-like Systems

Development of a Web-based Front-end Environment to Aid Programming Lectures on Unix-like Systems

Internet Based eKanban/eKitting Involving Suppliers

Kanban and Kitting systems have become prevalent over the past 20-30 years however most of these systems are manual or internal. In addition, some companies have struggled implementing these business practices due to internal employee gaming of these systems which has sometimes caused companies to abandon or lose trust in them.This paper provides details on the development and deployment of a web-based environment at a company which involved suppliers, substantially reduced employee gaming and improved managerial oversight of inventory which led to nearly 90% reductions in line-side inventory, nearly 50% reductions in material handling labor while reducing line-side part shortages by over 80%. The technical components of this system and how it was implemented will be reviewed.

English Writing via a Social Networking Platform

This study examined students' perceptions of completing an English writing class via a social networking platform. Participants were 162 aboriginal students between 18 and 23 years of age at a nursing college in southern Taiwan. Different ethnicities were defined and represented by different memberships of indigenous groups or tribes, also known as the aboriginals. The participants were completing a required English language course and were required to pass an English Proficiency test as an exit requirement of the university. Participants' pretest scores indicated that they had a positive perception of taking a web-based class. At the conclusion of the study, based on posttest scores, students' positive perceptions decreased noticeably for six of the thirteen items on the instrument. The findings of the study also indicated that tribal membership had no significant impact on students' perceptions of completing an English writing class via a predominantly web-based environment.

Virtual Research Environment for digital 3D reconstructions – Standards, thresholds and prospects

Since the 1990s the application of the digital 3D reconstruction and computer-based visualisation of culturalheritage increased. The virtual reconstruction and 3D visualisation revealed a new “glittering” research space forobject-oriented disciplines such as archaeology, art history and architecture. Nevertheless the academicsconcerned with the uprising technology recognised early the lack of documentation standards in the 3Dprojects leading to the loss of information, findings and the fusion of knowledge behind the digital 3Drepresentation. Based on the methodological fundamentals of the digital 3D reconstruction the potentials andchallenges in the light of emerging Semantic Web and Web3D technologies will be introduced. The presentationsubscribes a scientific methodology and a collaborative web-based research environment followed by crucialfeatures for this kind of projects. As the groundwork a human- and machine-readable “language of objects” andthe implementation of this semantic patterns for spatial research purposes on destroyed and/or never realisedtangible cultural heritage will be discussed. Using examples from the practice the presentation explains therequirements of the Semantic Web (Linked Data), the role of controlled vocabularies, the architecture of the VREand the impact of a customised integration of interactive 3D models within the WebGL technology. Thepresentation intends to showcase the state-of-the-art on the way to a digital research infrastructure. The focuslies on the introduction of scholarly approved and sustainable digital 3D reconstruction, complaint withrecognised documentation standards and following the Linked Data requirements.

The social presence theory in distance education; the role of social presence in web-based educational environment

The social presence theory in distance education; the role of social presence in web-based educational environment

Research and Design of Experimental Simulation Environment for Information Resource Management Based on Web

The development of modern information technology has enabled the virtual simulation experiment system to play an important role in the remote experiment process of colleges and universities. Information resource management is based on its own characteristics, and it is more suitable to use the web-based simulation experiment environment to carry out practical teaching. This paper uses the architecture of the virtual experimental system to discuss and design the experimental simulation environment of information resource management based on Web.

PipelineDog: a simple and flexible graphic pipeline construction and maintenance tool.

Analysis pipelines are an essential part of bioinformatics research, and ad hoc pipelines are frequently created by researchers for prototyping and proof-of-concept purposes. However, most existing pipeline management system or workflow engines are too complex for rapid prototyping or learning the pipeline concept. A lightweight, user-friendly and flexible solution is thus desirable. In this study, we developed a new pipeline construction and maintenance tool, PipelineDog. This is a web-based integrated development environment with a modern web graphical user interface. It offers cross-platform compatibility, project management capabilities, code formatting and error checking functions and an online repository. It uses an easy-to-read/write script system that encourages code reuse. With the online repository, it also encourages sharing of pipelines, which enhances analysis reproducibility and accountability. For most users, PipelineDog requires no software installation. Overall, this web application provides a way to rapidly create and easily manage pipelines. PipelineDog web app is freely available at http://web.pipeline.dog. The command line version is available at http://www.npmjs.com/package/pipelinedog and online repository at http://repo.pipeline.dog. ysun@kean.edu or xing@biology.rutgers.edu or ysun@diagnoa.com. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

MeSchup: A Platform for Programming Interconnected Smart Things

In a future where hundreds of smart networked devices will be embedded in our everyday environments, the question of how to program the world around us arises. An abstraction layer and web-based integrated development environment can interweave available smart things’ capabilities into a collective orchestration of smart behavior.

P-MartCancer-Interactive Online Software to Enable Analysis of Shotgun Cancer Proteomic Datasets.

P-MartCancer is an interactive web-based software environment that enables statistical analyses of peptide or protein data, quantitated from mass spectrometry-based global proteomics experiments, without requiring in-depth knowledge of statistical programming. P-MartCancer offers a series of statistical modules associated with quality assessment, peptide and protein statistics, protein quantification, and exploratory data analyses driven by the user via customized workflows and interactive visualization. Currently, P-MartCancer offers access and the capability to analyze multiple cancer proteomic datasets generated through the Clinical Proteomics Tumor Analysis Consortium at the peptide, gene, and protein levels. P-MartCancer is deployed as a web service (https://pmart.labworks.org/cptac.html), alternatively available via Docker Hub (https://hub.docker.com/r/pnnl/pmart-web/). Cancer Res; 77(21); e47-50. ©2017 AACR.

Examining gender issues in perception and acceptance in web-based end-user development activities

In the recent years in the End-User Development (EUD) research there is a shift from the study of tools that focus on desktop graphical applications, to the development of EUD for web environments. Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research has shown significant gender differences while users interact with EUD systems. However, most of this research focuses on desktop spreadsheet environments. In this paper we examine the potential gender differences in perception and acceptance in modern web-based EUD environments. We step on previous gender research in the fields of EUD and Technology Acceptance to concentrate a set of appropriate items and examine a set of related hypotheses. To check out our research hypotheses we have conducted a field test using a prototype web-based EUD tool based on a natural language approach (named ‘simple talking’), to assist end-users in creating database-driven mobile applications. The results of the field test show significant gender differences in Risk-Perception and Perceived-Ease of Use. As it was predicted, male users perceived significantly higher ease of use and female users perceived significantly higher risk. Gender differences also exist in the correlations between different pairs of perception and acceptance items.