This dissertation studies the advancement of consensus-aware technologies in the context of collective decision-making, focusing on the integration of these technologies into information systems to effectively represent, detect, and characterize consensus among people and other agents. Despite the proven value of collective intelligence in…

Data are an essential factor in the fourth industrial revolution, demanding engineers and scientists to leverage and analyze their potential for significantly improving the efficiency of industrial processes and their control systems. In classical industrial process control systems, the models are constructed using linear data-driven approaches,…

Critical thinking has been identified as a key ability in most professions, yet employers find college graduates deficient in critical thinking skills. Research on the effect of college on students' critical thinking ability has been contradictory. This study empirically examines the impact of the immersion approach to teach critical thinking used…

The increasing use of research metrics in the monitoring and evaluation of research has led to the expansion of research information infrastructure, as indicated by the rising number of national databases for research output and research information systems. At the same time, debates on requirements of national databases for research output are…

Continuing to fill the literature gap, this research replicated and expands a prior study of student performance in database normalization in an introductory database course. The data was collected from four different universities, each having different prerequisite courses for their database course. Student performance on a database normalization…

Existing toolkits for analyzing movement dynamics in animal ecology primarily focus on individual or group behavior in habitats without predefined boundaries, while methods for studying human activity often cater to bounded environments, such as team sports played on defined fields. This leaves a gap in tools for modeling and analyzing human group…

Library systems and digital services are in rapid development and of increasing importance to meeting the needs of users, and systems librarianship is at the forefront of this development, with ever-changing expectations of expertise and areas of responsibility. The aim of this study was to determine how well library and information science (LIS)…

This study investigates how risk auditing, accounting standards, and corporate governance influence accounting reforms in China's Luckin Coffee. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 30 audit professionals from nine accounting networks. The gray correlation coefficient technique was used to assess the risks…

In today's digital age, online courses have become a valuable tool for learners to acquire new skills and knowledge. The global outbreak of COVID-19 has further accelerated the adoption of online learning as education service providers are forced to move their courses online to ensure the continuity of education. However, with many online courses,…

Unified Modelling Language (UML) class diagrams are standard tools in software engineering education, typically analysed for syntactical correctness rather than their communicative dimensions. This study applies semiotic theory to investigate how first-year Bachelor of Computer Information Systems students engage with UML class diagrams as…

Numerous studies have employed the Task-technology fit (TTF) theory to examine the impact of information systems used for training. While some of these studies reported positive outcomes, others presented mixed results on the impact of the systems improving users' performance in problem solving and learning. One possible explanation for these…

Given how commonly GPS is now used in everyday navigation, it is surprising how little research has been dedicated to investigating variations in its use and how such variations may relate to navigation ability. The present study investigated general GPS dependence, how people report using GPS in various navigational scenarios, and the…

As organizations' reliance on data increases, the prevalence of data analytics programs in universities likewise increases. However, despite this specialized education, scholars still report a gap between the knowledge and skills students graduate with and those required by industry upon beginning work as an entry-level data analyst. We draw on…

Research data services--support offerings which enable and improve data-intensive research--have garnered sustained attention from library research support service providers for nearly two decades. Libraries have played a leading role in developing research data services, and on most university campuses they provide the largest and most diverse…

Over thirty years after such systems were first developed, the Integrated Library System underlies most operations of an academic library. Yet in the literature, its day-to-day maintenance is often reduced to a list of tasks. Through interviews with sixteen system maintainers, this study attempts to develop an experiential understanding of its…