Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Western University

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

2016

Discipline
Keyword

Articles 1 - 17 of 17

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

An M-Learning Maturity Model For Universities And Higher Educational Institutes, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Muasaad Alrasheedi, Arif Raza Nov 2016

An M-Learning Maturity Model For Universities And Higher Educational Institutes, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Muasaad Alrasheedi, Arif Raza

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

An m-learning maturity model is put forward in this research to assess the mobile technology adoption rates in universities and higher educational institutes. The model is derived from Capability Maturity Model (CMM), which has been widely used in organizations to gauge the adoption of various new processes. Five levels of m-learning maturity are specified including preliminary, established, defined, structured, and continuous improvement. Each of these maturity levels is gauged through nine critical success factors (CSFs) in assessment questionnaires. The CSFs used in measuring instrument of the model are adopted from three of our previous empirical studies. Using an assessment questionnaire …

Go to article

Neural Network Models For Software Development Effort Estimation: A Comparative Study, Ali Bou Nassif, Mohammad Azzeh, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Danny Ho Nov 2016

Neural Network Models For Software Development Effort Estimation: A Comparative Study, Ali Bou Nassif, Mohammad Azzeh, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Danny Ho

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software development effort estimation (SDEE) is one of the main tasks in software project management. It is crucial for a project manager to efficiently predict the effort or cost of a software project in a bidding process, since overestimation will lead to bidding loss and underestimation will cause the company to lose money. Several SDEE models exist; machine learning models, especially neural network models, are among the most prominent in the field. In this study, four different neural network models – Multilayer Perceptron, General Regression Neural Network, Radial Basis Function Neural Network, and Cascade Correlation Neural Network – are compared …

Go to article

Game Development Software Engineering Process Life Cycle: A Systematic Review, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed Nov 2016

Game Development Software Engineering Process Life Cycle: A Systematic Review, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Software game is a kind of application that is used not only for entertainment, but also for serious purposes that can be applicable to different domains such as education, business, and health care. Multidisciplinary nature of the game development processes that combine sound, art, control systems, artificial intelligence (AI), and human factors, makes the software game development practice different from traditional software development. However, the underline software engineering techniques help game development to achieve maintainability, flexibility, lower effort and cost, and better design. The purpose of this study is to assesses the state of the art research on the game …

Go to article

The Innovative Behaviour Of Software Engineers: Findings From A Pilot Case Study, Cleviton Monteiro, Fabio Q.B. Silva Dr., Luiz Fernando Capretz Sep 2016

The Innovative Behaviour Of Software Engineers: Findings From A Pilot Case Study, Cleviton Monteiro, Fabio Q.B. Silva Dr., Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Context: In the workplace, some individuals engage in the voluntary and intentional generation, promotion, and realization of new ideas for the benefit of individual performance, group effectiveness, or the organization. The literature classifies this phenomenon as innovative behaviour. Despite its importance to the development of innovation, innovative behaviour has not been fully investigated in software engineering. Objective: To understand the factors that support or inhibit innovative behaviour in software engineering practice. Method: We conducted a pilot case study in a Canadian software company using interviews and observations as data collection techniques. Using qualitative analysis, we identified relevant …

Go to article

How Software Development Group Leaders Influence Team Members’ Behavior, Fabio Queda Silva, Cleviton Monteiro, Igor Ebrahim Santos, Luiz Fernando Capretz Sep 2016

How Software Development Group Leaders Influence Team Members’ Behavior, Fabio Queda Silva, Cleviton Monteiro, Igor Ebrahim Santos, Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Evidence in the literature from several business sectors shows that exploratory and exploitative innovation strategies are complementarily important for competitiveness. Our empirical findings reinforced those evidences in the context of software development companies. The innovative behaviour of individuals is an essential ingredient to success in both types of innovations strategies and leaders can have a big influence on this behaviour. Adopting a leadership style that combines transactional and transformational practices is more likely to produce effective results in supporting innovative behaviour. In software development, project managers and other group leaders should be stimulated and supported in adopting such practices to …

Go to article

International Comparison Of Media Usage Among University Students, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Gerd Gidion Sep 2016

International Comparison Of Media Usage Among University Students, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Gerd Gidion

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

A survey on media usage was conducted at Western University, followed by similar surveys in Germany, Spain and Thailand. It seems that the usage of IT-devices is more popular in Thailand and Germany than in Canada. The use of social network related applications in academia seems to be more common in Thailand compared to Canada and Germany. The competitiveness of the Internet-based market of academic education might be more intensive in Canada because of the proximity of the U.S. market. An international comparison is, nevertheless, problematic, because the circumstances are really diverse and in constant change. Future plans involve conducting …

Go to article

A Pilot Case Study On Innovative Behaviour: Lessons Learned And Directions For Future Work, Cleviton Monteiro, Fabio Q. B. Silva Dr., Luiz Fernando Capretz Sep 2016

A Pilot Case Study On Innovative Behaviour: Lessons Learned And Directions For Future Work, Cleviton Monteiro, Fabio Q. B. Silva Dr., Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Context: A case study is a powerful research strategy for investigating complex social-technical and managerial phenomena in real life settings. However, when the phenomenon has not been fully discovered or understood, pilot case studies are important to refine the research problem, the research variables, and the case study design before launching a full-scale investigation. The role of pilot case studies has not been fully addressed in empirical software engineering research literature. Objective: To explore the use of pilot case studies in the design of full-scale case studies, and to report the main lessons learned from an industrial pilot …

Go to article

Critical Success Factors To Improve The Game Development Process From A Developer's Perspective, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed Sep 2016

Critical Success Factors To Improve The Game Development Process From A Developer's Perspective, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

The growth of the software game development industry is enormous and is gaining importance day by day. This growth imposes severe pressure and a number of issues and challenges on the game development community. Game development is a complex process, and one important game development choice is to consider the developer’s perspective to produce good-quality software games by improving the game development process. The objective of this study is to provide a better understanding of the developer’s dimension as a factor in software game success. It focuses mainly on an empirical investigation of the effect of key developer’s factors on …

Go to article

A Digital Game Maturity Model (Dgmm), Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed Aug 2016

A Digital Game Maturity Model (Dgmm), Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Game development is an interdisciplinary concept that embraces artistic, software engineering, management, and business disciplines. This research facilitates a better understanding of important dimensions of digital game development methodology. Game development is considered as one of the most complex tasks in software engineering. The increased popularity of digital games, the challenges faced by game development organizations in developing quality games, and high competition in the digital game industry demand a game development maturity assessment. Consequently, this study presents a Digital Game Maturity Model to evaluate the current development methodology in an organization. The framework of this model consists of assessment …

Go to article

Optimal Grasp Synthesis To Apply Normal And Shear Stresses Of Failure In Beams, Mehrdad Kermani Ph.D., P.Eng., Mahyar Abdeetedal Jul 2016

Optimal Grasp Synthesis To Apply Normal And Shear Stresses Of Failure In Beams, Mehrdad Kermani Ph.D., P.Eng., Mahyar Abdeetedal

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

This paper investigates the less-studied problem of failing/yielding an object purposefully by a robotic hand. A grasp synthesis capable of using the whole limb surface of the robotic hand is designed based on internal force decomposition. The introduced approach is based on quasistatic assumption and optimization of active internal forces in order to counterbalance the formulated task wrench/load of yielding. As different geometrical constraints are dictated by the manipulation circumstances (e.g. metallic sheet shaping or robotic harvesting), the yielding wrench optimization is developed to be not only sufficient for yielding the object but also effective in meeting all motion restrictions …

Go to article

Trends In Students Media Usage, Gerd Gidion, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Michael Grosch, Ken Meadow Jul 2016

Trends In Students Media Usage, Gerd Gidion, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Michael Grosch, Ken Meadow

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Trends in media usage by students can affect the way they learn. Students demand the use of technology, thus institutions and instructors should meet students’ requests. This paper describes the results of a survey where drivers in the use of media show continuously increasing or decreasing values from the first to the fourth year of study experience at the Western University, Canada, highlighting trends in the usage of new and traditional media in higher education by students. The survey was used to gather data on students’ media usage habits and user satisfaction from first to fourth year of study and …

Go to article

Energy Consumption Prediction With Big Data: Balancing Prediction Accuracy And Computational Resources, Katarina Grolinger, Miriam Am Capretz, Luke Seewald Jun 2016

Energy Consumption Prediction With Big Data: Balancing Prediction Accuracy And Computational Resources, Katarina Grolinger, Miriam Am Capretz, Luke Seewald

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

In recent years, advances in sensor technologies and expansion of smart meters have resulted in massive growth of energy data sets. These Big Data have created new opportunities for energy prediction, but at the same time, they impose new challenges for traditional technologies. On the other hand, new approaches for handling and processing these Big Data have emerged, such as MapReduce, Spark, Storm, and Oxdata H2O. This paper explores how findings from machine learning with Big Data can benefit energy consumption prediction. An approach based on local learning with support vector regression (SVR) is presented. Although local learning itself is …

Go to article

Why A Testing Career Is Not The First Choice Of Engineers, Pradeep Kashinath Waychal, Luiz Fernando Capretz Jun 2016

Why A Testing Career Is Not The First Choice Of Engineers, Pradeep Kashinath Waychal, Luiz Fernando Capretz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Environmental Factors Influencing Individual Decision-Making Behavior In Software Project: A Systematic Literature Review, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Jingdong Jia May 2016

Environmental Factors Influencing Individual Decision-Making Behavior In Software Project: A Systematic Literature Review, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Jingdong Jia

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

As one of the crucial human aspects, individual decision-making behavior that may affect the quality of a software project is adaptive to the environment in which the individual is. However, no comprehensive reference framework of the environmental factors influencing individual decision-making behavior in software projects is presently available. This paper undertakes a systematic literature review (SLR) to gain insight into existing studies on this topic. After a careful SLR process, 40 studies were targeted to solve this question. Based on these extracted studies, we first provided a taxonomy of environmental factors comprising eight categories. Then a total of 237 factors …

Go to article

Design And Performance Evaluation Of A Prototype Mrf-Based Haptic Interface For Medical Applications, Mehrdad Kermani Ph.D., P.Eng., Nima Najmaei, Ali Asadian, Rajni Patel Feb 2016

Design And Performance Evaluation Of A Prototype Mrf-Based Haptic Interface For Medical Applications, Mehrdad Kermani Ph.D., P.Eng., Nima Najmaei, Ali Asadian, Rajni Patel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

This paper describes the construction and stability and transparency evaluation of a prototype two degrees-of-freedom (DoF) haptic interface, which takes ad-vantage of magneto-rheological fluid (MRF)-based clutches for actuation. These small-scale clutches were designed in our lab, and their evaluation were reported previously [1],[2]. MRF-based actuators exhibit superior characteristics,which can significantly contribute to transparency and stability of haptic devices. Based on these actuators, a distributed antagonistic configuration is used to develop the2-DoF haptic interface. This device is incorporated in a master–slave teleoperation setup intended for medical per-cutaneous interventions and soft-tissue palpation. Preliminary studies on the stability and transparency of the haptic …

Go to article

Cepsim: Modelling And Simulation Of Complex Event Processing Systems In Cloud Environments, Wilson A. Higashino, Miriam Am Capretz, Luiz F. Bittencourt Jan 2016

Cepsim: Modelling And Simulation Of Complex Event Processing Systems In Cloud Environments, Wilson A. Higashino, Miriam Am Capretz, Luiz F. Bittencourt

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

The emergence of Big Data has had profound impacts on how data are stored and processed. As technologies created to process continuous streams of data with low latency, Complex Event Processing (CEP) and Stream Processing (SP) have often been related to the Big Data velocity dimension and used in this context. Many modern CEP and SP systems leverage cloud environments to provide the low latency and scalability required by Big Data applications, yet validating these systems at the required scale is a research problem per se. Cloud computing simulators have been used as a tool to facilitate reproducible and repeatable …

Go to article

Empirical Investigation Of Key Business Factors For Digital Game Performance, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed Jan 2016

Empirical Investigation Of Key Business Factors For Digital Game Performance, Saiqa Alemm, Luiz Fernando Capretz, Faheem Ahmed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Publications

Game development is an interdisciplinary concept that embraces software engineering, business, management, and artistic disciplines. This research facilitates a better understanding of the business dimension of digital games. The main objective of this research is to investigate empirically the effect of business factors on the performance of digital games in the market and to answer the research questions asked in this study. Game development organizations are facing high pressure and competition in the digital game industry. Business has become a crucial dimension, especially for game development organizations. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate empirically the influence of …

Go to article