Epos – an instrument for the assessment of the ethical position in software development

Digital technology becomes more powerful, intelligent, pervasive and ubiquitous. Ethical aspects of this development have not yet drawn the appropriate attention of researchers and engineers. This paper presents an instrument that aims at measuring the individual ethical position with regard to the design and development of computer software. The development of the Epos tool was based on two data collections. The data of the first survey (n₁ = 147 participants) were used to select items and to determine the factorial structure of the questionnaire. Results show that the Epos instrument reliably assesses peoples’ ethical opinion with respect to five central components: (1) regulation, (2) data privacy, (3) domain specific knowledge, (4) societal responsibility and (5) company responsibility. In the second survey, we determined the stability of the instruments factor structure by assessing a sample of n₂?=?196 participants. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the initial factor structure. Next steps and further implications are discussed regarding the final version of the questionnaire.     

Effect of moving pictures on visual task performance and fatigue using 4K OLED and LCD TVs

This study compared the effects of 4K organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) and liquid‐crystal display (LCD) TVs on human visual task performance and fatigue when viewing moving pictures. In experiments conducted, subjects were asked to locate 35 icons among a total of 276 on‐screen icons at four moving picture speeds. From the results obtained, it was determined that OLED TVs (emissive type) exhibit superior characteristics for hit rate and false alarm rate compared with LCD TVs (non‐emissive‐type). The evaluation results of a simulator sickness questionnaire administered to ascertain fatigue levels also indicated that OLED TVs induce relatively little fatigue at fast‐moving picture speeds of 10 ppf or more compared with LCD TVs. Thus, this study confirms that OLED TVs, given their ultrafast response time characteristics, are superior in terms of moving picture images to LCD TVs.     

Quantifying co-creative writing experiences

Collaboration with artificial intelligence (AI) is a growing trend even in the field of creativity. This paper examines which quantitative metrics can be used to comparatively analyse human-computer co-creativity with children. To study this question, 24 schoolchildren of age 10–11 wrote a poem with three co-creative poetry writing processes: a human-computer, a human-human, and a human-human-computer process. The computational participant in the processes was an AI-based application called the Poetry Machine. The children were asked to evaluate their user experience with a 5-point Likert-type questionnaire after each writing process and a comparative questionnaire after finishing all processes. The metrics used in the evaluation were immediate fun, long-term enjoyment, creativity, self-expression, outcome satisfaction, ease of starting and finishing writing, quality of ideas and support from others, and ownership.

Significant differences were found in fun, long-term enjoyment, quality of ideas, support, and ownership. The high number of statistically relevant results was enabled by exposing all participants to all writing processes, and the comparative questionnaire. The human-human-computer process was evaluated the best in long-term enjoyment and the human-computer process the weakest in support and idea quality. Creativity and ease of finishing writing turned out to be outlining metrics for the co-creative processes.     

Evaluation of ergonomic approach and musculoskeletal disorders in two different organizations in a truck assembly plant

The aim of this study was to assess the ergonomic physical exposure, organizational and psychosocial factors in a truck assembly plant for two different cycle times (11 min and 8 min). A self-reported questionnaire was applied to evaluate subjective physical exposure, organizational and psychosocial factors by operators in two organization of an assembly process. The initial cycle time was 11 min (system A) and the new was 8 min (system B). The same work and assembly tasks had to be completed in both systems. However, the organization and distribution of the tasks and workstations were reorganized. The results of the questionnaire showed that subjective estimation by the operators regarding ergonomic risk factors was better in the new organization and self-reported WR-MSDs symptoms were fewer. However, exposure to risk factors and WR-MSDs symptoms was not statistically different between two cycle times. The findings provide better understanding of how organizational changes can modify ergonomic exposure in manufacturing assembly industries. Effective interventions are thus not only engineering solutions but also organizational and administrative adaptations.     

Importance of the color of light for the illumination of urban squares

The objective of this article was to establish the significance of parameters relevant for urban square illumination, particularly those related with the color of light. Performed using a questionnaire and with 154 architecture students as respondents, the survey showed that the 18 parameters can be divided into two groups. The first group of 13 parameters refers to the overall impression, influencing the basic and most important lighting aims like safety, security, orientation, visual comfort, and amenity, whereas the second group includes parameters related to lighting features which may negatively influence the overall impression. The four parameters directly linked to the color of light were evaluated lower than expected, indicating that architecture students were probably translating their attitude toward color in architecture to color of light, thus underestimating this lighting parameter. The survey results also showed that female respondents are more sensitive to parameters, which affect safety and security.     

学情调查和数据驱动专业基础课教学探索

文章以“数字电子技术基础”课程为对象,设计了基于教学数据和问卷调查的教学框架。通过学生情况调查和雨课堂教学数据掌握学习状态和学习能力,针对性设计了个性化作业布置、拓展延伸、疫情线上自学跟学双通道等特色教学方式。结课问卷表明教学设计得到了良好评价和认可。     

我国教育创新人才培养研究——基于湖北省黄冈市3所学校的调查

教育如何培养创新人才,是新时期的紧迫任务。在已有的理论研究基础上,探寻实践情境中创新人才培养的现实状况和已有问题,提出优化创新人才教育环境、改进教学内容和培养方式,健全创新人才评价机制等一系列措施,以确保创建良好的创新人才氛围。     

混凝土结构基本原理课程教改中新模式和新平台的应用

通过问卷调查的方式,了解混凝土结构基本原理常规课程教学模式存在的主要问题;通过采用微课堂、翻转课堂等教学模式和微信公众号信息平台进行探索性教改实践,取得很好的效果。教改实践证明:微课堂对课本中重难点的解决具有快捷高效的作用;翻转课堂提高了学生的主动性;微信公众号为学生解决疑难问题提供了便捷途径。新模式与新平台在混凝土结构基本原理课程教学中的应用有利于教改的实施和推进。     

长沙市住宅建筑室内外VOC浓度的实测与分析

根据10户住宅建筑的VOC浓度现场测试及问卷调查结果，分析了长沙市住宅室内外VOC浓度及个人暴露量的状况。分析了环境温湿度、住宅装修时间、空调气流组织方式等对住宅VOC散发及分布的影响。