This exercise encompassed the construction and use of a microcontroller-based laser refractometer. The instrument, which does not require a high skill level to build, primarily consisted of a line laser, optical sensor, several 3-D printed parts and printed circuit boards, and a microcontroller development board. Construction and testing of the…

A cordless mouse with an added reed switch is used as a wireless data logger to record every time the wheel of a trolley completes a revolution. The limitations of the system in terms of maximum clicking rate and spatial resolution are considered and data obtained from the descent of a trolley down a ramp at various different angles is analysed in…

Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management are becoming important topics at the university level, and are increasingly receiving course-level attention in the curriculum. In fact, the Information Systems Body of Knowledge specifically identifies Enterprise Architecture as an Information Systems-specific knowledge area. The…

The problem of human-computer interface design was brought to the foreground with the emergence of the personal computer, the increasing complexity of electronic systems, and the need to accommodate the human operator in these systems. With each new technological generation discovering the interface design problems of its own technologies, initial…

This paper provides a nuanced metaphor for teaching and learning, taking into account newer mediated forms of learning that lie at the nexus of teaching and learning. Firstly, the paper navigates this metaphorical minefield by tracing the evolution of the terms for describing learning environments: specifically coalface, chalkface and interface.…

OpenMx is free, full-featured, open source, structural equation modeling (SEM) software. OpenMx runs within the "R" statistical programming environment on Windows, Mac OS-X, and Linux computers. The rationale for developing OpenMx is discussed along with the philosophy behind the user interface. The OpenMx data structures are…

It's been well documented in a number of articles regarding the contemporary library patron that with the rise in mobile computing and smart phone technology, patrons are looking for fast and easy service from whichever technological avenue they are using to access library services. Libraries are responding with increasing numbers of online…

In this article we describe long-standing user interface issues with Dynamic Geometry Software and common approaches to address them. We describe first prototypes of multi-touch-capable DGS. We also give some hints on the educational benefits of proper user interface design.

This article describes some of the key affordances for learning of the generic class of handheld computers known variously as smartphones, palmtops, and thumbtops--using the Apple iPhone 3G as one of the most mature exemplars of this class--based on the authors' experiences with and reflections about the device over a period of a year. An argument…

As e-resource systems and web coordinator for Southern Oregon University, the author is deeply involved with the university library's website. In the latest revision of this website, the author knew she needed to jazz it up a little. With screen real estate on the main page at a premium, the author hoped to use a tabbed box and an accordion-style…

This article discusses the growing demand of using touchscreen interface. Consumers are now seeing touchscreens in a wide variety of electronics, not only in competitors to the iPhone from Sony, Samsung, Motorola, LG and T-Mobile, but also in desktop PCs, printers and copiers, televisions, and MP3 players. Teens, if they don't have a touch-enabled…

Small computers are emerging as important components of the contemporary computing scene. Their operating systems vary from specialized software for an embedded system to the same style of OS used on a generic desktop or server computer. This article describes a course in which systems are classified by their hardware capability and the…

It turns out Al Wallace got my old space at Kitsap. It's a little hovel in what we call "The Outback," the octagon furthest from the administrative offices, an easy place to hide if you're really quiet. It?s triangular in shape and somewhat awkward, but that?s what you get when an architect knits together a bunch of 5,000-square-foot octagons in a…

Some remember when they accessed the Internet through the telephone on a 300-baud modem. It was slow and it was not easy, but it gave them a view of the world. Now there is the web, idiot-proof email, and practically unlimited wireless connectivity. Having gone from desktop computers to laptops, now a major push is moving connectivity into the…

Electronic examination systems, which include Internet-based system, require extremely complicated installation, configuration and maintenance of software as well as hardware. In this paper, we present the design and development of a flexible, easy-to-use and secure examination system (e-Test), in which any commonly used computer can be used as a…