Andrea Gorra | Carleton University (original) (raw)

Books by Andrea Gorra

Active Learning in Higher Education (SAGE), 2013

There are many pressures on academics to 'satisfy' students' needs for feedback, not least the in... more There are many pressures on academics to 'satisfy' students' needs for feedback, not least the inclusion of questions about feedback. Many have commentated on the lack of student engagement with summative feedback while most believe that feedback is necessary to improve individual student performance. Several have looked at a range of reasons why students do not collect their feedback, but investigated in this article is how many students collected summative feedback and why they did so. This article outlines an action research-based intervention that involved offering feedback 'on demand' to undergraduate students and utilised access statistics data from the virtual learning environment to identify the actual rate of feedback collection by students. Investigated is whether or not there is a discernible preference for seeking feedback where there is a difference between the expected grade and the actual grade. Student survey and the virtual learning environment access data were used to indicate whether students are satisfied with a few short comments and a marking grid, if the mark is similar to their expectations. The resource efficiency and effectiveness for academic staff in terms of providing detailed individual feedback to all students are discussed. Keywords Assessment, feedback, formative, on demand, summative, virtual learning environment Feedback Some, such as Sadler (2010), bring into question the efficacy of providing large-scale feedback on summative work to students because the feedback loop is not acted on by many students. Weaver (2006) infers that this effect can be magnified due to the typical modularised curriculum, which often involves end-loaded assessments, where feedback only reaches the students after the final assessment and modules have been completed. Gibbs and Simpson (2004) also stress the

SAGE Grounded Theory Handbook, 2018

Keep your Data Moving– Operationalisation of Abduction with Technology

In this thesis I have examined the implications of the storage and use of mobile phone location d... more In this thesis I have examined the implications of the storage and use of mobile phone location data on individuals’ perceptions of privacy. The grounded theory methodology has been used to illustrate patterns and themes that are useful in understanding the broader discourses concerning location data relating to privacy, technology and policy-setting. The main contribution of this thesis is the development of a substantive theory grounded in empirical data from interviews, mobile phone location tracking and a survey. This theory is specific to a particular area, as it maps the relationship between mobile phone location data and perceptions of privacy within the UK.
The theory confirms some arguments in the literature that argue that the concept of privacy is changing with individuals' increased dependence on electronic communications technologies in day-to-day life. However, whilst individuals tend to hold a rather traditional picture of privacy, not influenced by technology and solely related to their own personal lives, scholars paint a picture of privacy that is affected by technology and relates to society as a whole. Digital mass data collections, such as communications data retention, are not perceived as privacy invasive by
individuals. Mobile phone location data is not seen as related to a citizen's daily life but instead primarily as a crime investigation tool. A recognition and understanding of
the divergence between the perceptions and definitions of privacy between individuals and the academic literature in relation to mobile phone location data is of relevance, as it should impact on future policies regulating the gathering, storage and analysis of personal data.

Papers by Andrea Gorra

Technology Innovation Management Review, 2020

Disabled Students in Education, 2012

He has published widely in the field of computer technology for people with autism. He set up and... more He has published widely in the field of computer technology for people with autism. He set up and now chairs Leeds Metropolitan University's Disability Research Group, the annual conferences of which generated much of the material for this book.

The SAGE Handbook of Current Developments in Grounded Theory, 2019

Technology, Transition, and Inclusivity

Chapter 4 INTRODUCTION Universities in Europe and the United States have an increasing number of ... more Chapter 4 INTRODUCTION Universities in Europe and the United States have an increasing number of students with disabilities enrolling in them (HESA, 2008; U.S. Department of Education, 2006). For a variety of reasons, including the association of computers with the provision of many kinds of aids to accessibility, Computer Science is a popular choice among these students (Francioni and Smith, 2005). The General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization adopted the Convention against Discrimination in Education in 1960 (UNESCO, 1960). At present, European

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Abstract: Positive impacts on learning through blogging, such as active knowledge construction an... more Abstract: Positive impacts on learning through blogging, such as active knowledge construction and reflective writing, have been reported. However, not many students use weblogs in informal contexts, even when appropriate facilities are offered by their universities. While motivations for blogging have been subject to empirical studies, little research has addressed the issue of why students choose not to blog. This paper presents an empirical study undertaken to gain insights into the decision making process of students when deciding whether to keep a blog or not. A better understanding of students ’ motivations for (not) blogging may help decision makers at universities in the process of selecting, introducing, and maintaining similar services. As informal learning gains increased recognition, results of this study can help to advance appropriate designs of informal learning contexts in Higher Education. The method of ethnographic decision tree modelling was applied in an empirica...

Audio or video podcasts can be a useful tool to supplement practical exercises such as business s... more Audio or video podcasts can be a useful tool to supplement practical exercises such as business simulations. In this paper, we discuss a case study in which different types of podcast were utilised to support the delivery of a course in international business. The students work in groups and run a fictional company using business simulation software, which gives them the opportunity to evaluate their decision making skills. A number of podcasts were used as reusable learning objects for different student cohorts. Faculty members produced visually enhanced audio podcasts offered tutor discussions of key elements of the computer-assisted business simulation used by the students. The podcasts were made available via the virtual learning environment (Blackboard Vista), as well as for subscription by web browser-based RSS readers, such as Google and downloadable RSS readers, such as iTunes. Our evaluation of this approach to using podcasts takes into account pedagogic and technical issue...

This article recounts personal experience of one of the analytical steps followed in Grounded The... more This article recounts personal experience of one of the analytical steps followed in Grounded Theory Methodology (GTM), based on the empirical experience and theoretical knowledge of a tourism and an information technology researcher. The research aim of Author 2Marianna’s PhD was to investigate the factors that influence the decisions of small tourism business owners to adopt sustainable practices in their business operations. Author 1Andrea examined the implications of the long-term storage and use of mobile phone location data on individuals’ perceptions of privacy (Gorra, 2007). Here we will illustrate how we used the more abstract ways of coding, namely axial coding, as well as our experiences of using the qualitative analysis software QSR NVivo.

Thesis title: An analysis of the relationship between individuals' perceptions of privacy and... more Thesis title: An analysis of the relationship between individuals' perceptions of privacy and mobile phone location data-a grounded theory study. This chapter introduces the research methodology used for this study and how it has guided data collection, analysis and development of theory. Firstly, essential background and fundamental guidelines common in different approaches to grounded theory methodology (GTM) are provided. The subsequent three sections describe the data collection phases for this study, which consisted of a mobile phone tracking pilot study, in-depth interviews and a survey. The chapter concludes by explicating the analysis approach for the empirical data. "If someone wanted to know whether one drug is more effective than another, then a double blind clinical trial would be more appropriate than grounded theory study. However, if someone wanted to know what it was like to be a participant in a drug study [..], then he or she might sensibly engage in a gro...

The mobile phone is a ubiquitous tool in today’s society, a daily companion for the majority of B... more The mobile phone is a ubiquitous tool in today’s society, a daily companion for the majority of British citizens. The ability to trace a mobile phone’s geographic position at all times via mobile phone networks generates potentially sensitive data that can be stored and shared for significant lengths of time, particularly for the purpose of crime and terrorism investigations. This thesis examines the implications of the storage and use of mobile phone location data on individuals’ perceptions of privacy. The grounded theory methodology has been used to illustrate patterns and themes that are useful in understanding the broader discourses concerning location data relating to privacy, technology and policy-setting. The main contribution of this thesis is the development of a substantive theory grounded in empirical data from interviews, mobile phone location tracking and a survey. This theory is specific to a particular area, as it maps the relationship between mobile phone location d...

Audio or video podcasts can offer students different ways of learning and can add value by provid... more Audio or video podcasts can offer students different ways of learning and can add value by providing access to learning materials ‘on the move’. This paper presents an initial investigation into the use of excel podcasts for undergraduate and foundation level students in different faculties at a single university. The podcasts were shown in lecture and seminar settings and uploaded to an online server for all students to access in their own time; either via a web browser or portable video player such as an iPod. Results for the on-going study were positive with the majority of students using them for developing their understanding of excel and exam revision. Students expressed an interest in having similar supplementary learning materials for other modules. Such conclusions drawn from this study highlight the need to investigate the use of podcasts further in the teaching and learning environment.

The purpose of this paper is to present results from empirical research with dyslexic students in... more The purpose of this paper is to present results from empirical research with dyslexic students in Higher Education that focuses on the impact of dyslexia on the study of computing. HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) statistics suggest that Computer Science is one of the subjects to which dyslexic students are attracted. This study was motivated by the question as to whether there might be anything particular about the discipline of computer programming that makes it either beneficial or problematic for dyslexic students. In addition, we were also interested in dyslexic students' general experience of assessment, learning and teaching, as well as their views of proposed accessibility guidelines. The Greek word 'dyslexia' means 'difficulty with words'. The British Dyslexia Association (2007) describes dyslexia as “a combination of abilities and difficulties that affect the learning process in one or more of reading, spelling and writing”. Dyslexic students a...

disabled students in education technology transition and inclusivity are a good way to achieve de... more disabled students in education technology transition and inclusivity are a good way to achieve details about operating certainproducts. Many products that you buy can be obtained using instruction manuals. These user guides are clearlybuilt to give step-by-step information about how you ought to go ahead in operating certain equipments. Ahandbook is really a user's guide to operating the equipments. Should you loose your best guide or even the productwould not provide an instructions, you can easily obtain one on the net. You can search for the manual of yourchoice online. Here, it is possible to work with google to browse through the available user guide and find the mainone you'll need. On the net, you'll be able to discover the manual that you might want with great ease andsimplicity

Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 2009

Active Learning in Higher Education (SAGE), 2013

SAGE Grounded Theory Handbook, 2018

Keep your Data Moving– Operationalisation of Abduction with Technology

Technology Innovation Management Review, 2020

Disabled Students in Education, 2012

The SAGE Handbook of Current Developments in Grounded Theory, 2019

Technology, Transition, and Inclusivity

sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav

Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 2009

comp.leeds.ac.uk

This paper presents the results of a study into which technologies are preferred by students to s... more This paper presents the results of a study into which technologies are preferred by students to support their studies. The study has taken place across four universities in the North of England. Much has been written and discussed about the differences between ...

Electronic Journal of E Learning, 2009

Positive impacts on learning through blogging, such as active knowledge construction and reflecti... more Positive impacts on learning through blogging, such as active knowledge construction and reflective writing, have been reported. However, not many students use weblogs in informal contexts, even when appropriate facilities are offered by their universities. While motivations for blogging have been subject to empirical studies, little research has addressed the issue of why students choose not to blog. This paper presents an empirical study undertaken to gain insights into the decision making process of students when deciding whether to keep a blog or not. A better understanding of students' motivations for (not) blogging may help decision makers at universities in the process of selecting, introducing, and maintaining similar services. As informal learning gains increased recognition, results of this study can help to advance appropriate designs of informal learning contexts in Higher Education. The method of ethnographic decision tree modelling was applied in an empirical study conducted at the Vienna University of Technology, Austria. Since 2004, the university has been offering free weblog accounts for all students and staff members upon entering school, not bound to any course or exam. Qualitative, open interviews were held with 3 active bloggers, 3 former bloggers, and 3 nonbloggers to elicit their decision criteria. Decision tree models were developed out of the interviews. It turned out that the modelling worked best when splitting the decision process into two parts: one model representing decisions on whether to start a weblog at all, and a second model representing criteria on whether to continue with a weblog once it was set up. The models were tested for their validity through questionnaires developed out of the decision tree models. 30 questionnaires have been distributed to bloggers, former bloggers and nonbloggers. Results show that the main reasons for students not to keep a weblog include a preference for direct (online) communication, and concerns about the loss of privacy through blogging. Furthermore, the results indicate that intrinsic motivation factors keep students blogging, whereas stopping a weblog is mostly attributable to external factors.

This article summarizes the results of a research project that adopts a topic modeling approach t... more This article summarizes the results of a research project that adopts a topic modeling approach to analyze publicly available information and examine the application of Machine Learning (ML) in Cyber Security (CS) startup offers. The analysis is based on the application of an in-house topic modeling tool (the J-Tool, jtool.cugcr.ca) that was developed by the Analytics group of the Global Cyber Security Resource initiative (www.cugcr.ca). The J-Tool was applied to a corpus of 273 documents containing online information about 60 startups (30 with funding and 30 without funding). The online information was collected from the Angel.co startup platform, from the startup websites and from online sources providing complementary information published by third parties. Interpreting each individual webpage as a separate document (between 4 and 5 on average for each startup) resulted in the corpus of 273 documents. The results show that the application of topic modeling on this corpus allow to identify the specific startups that are focusing on specific market offers and the ways they employ machine learning as part of their proposed solutions. The process was complemented by qualitative semantic analysis of the textual information of the startups that were most highly associated with specific offers. The main results of the research include: i) classification of the market offer types based on the results of J-Tool; ii) summary of the ways ML are integrated into the startups' market offer; iii) comparison of the offer types in terms of their growth potential-a metric provided by the Angel.co platform, the number of online followers, the number of employees, and funding tendencies; iv) summary of insights based on the classification and comparison results. The research project appears to be the first one that applies topic modeling to analyze the market offers of samples comprising new technology firms at multiple global locations. The results will be valuable to scholars and practitioners interested in the applications of machine learning in cybersecurity solutions. The main contribution of the project is methodological, since the suggested topic modeling approach to the classification of value propositions represents a promising business intelligence resource of high relevance for students, scholars, entrepreneurs, investors and other practitioners interested in examining and classifying the variety of market offers in a specific technology-driven business domain. 2 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________