Browsing by Author "Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil"

Now showing 1 - 20 of 62

Citation Count: 22
An Analysis of Course Characteristics, Learner Characteristics, and Certification Rates in MITx MOOCs
(Athabasca Univ Press, 2020) Çağıltay, Nergiz; Cagiltay, Kursat; Celik, Berkan; Software Engineering
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), capable of providing free (or low cost) courses for millions of learners anytime and anywhere, have gained the attention of researchers, educational institutions, and learners worldwide. Even though they provide several benefits, there are still some criticisms of MOOCs. For instance, MOOCs' high dropout rates or predominantly elite participation are considered to be important problems. In order to develop solutions for these problems, a deeper understanding of MOOCs is required. Today, despite the availability of several research studies about MOOCs, there is a shortage of in-depth research on course characteristics, learner characteristics, and predictors of certification rates. This study examined MOOC and learner characteristics in detail and explored the predictors of course certification rates based on data from 122 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MOOCs (MITx) on edX platform as well as data about the 2.8 million participants registered in these MOOCs. The results indicated that as the number of courses offered and the number of learners enrolled increased in years, there was a decrease in the certification rates among enrolled learners. According to our results, the number of average chapters completed, total forum messages, and mean age predicted course certification rates positively. On the other hand, the total number of chapters in a course predicted the course certification rates negatively. Based on these results, shorter and more interactive MOOCs are recommended by considering the needs of the learners, course content design, and strategies encouraging the enrolled students to enter the courses.
Citation Count: 4
Are Left- and Right-Eye Pupil Sizes Always Equal?
(int Group Eye Movement Research, 2019) Dalveren, Gonca Gökçe Menekşe; Dalveren, Gonca Gokce Menekse; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
Eye movements provide very critical information about the cognitive load and behaviors of human beings. Earlier studies report that under normal conditions, the left- and right-eye pupil sizes are equal. For this reason, most studies undertaking eye-movement analysis are conducted by only considering the pupil size of a single eye or taking the average size of both eye pupils. This study attempts to offer a better understanding concerning whether there are any differences between the left- and right-eye pupil sizes of the right-handed surgical residents while performing surgical tasks in a computer-based simulation environment under different conditions (left-hand, right-hand and both hands). According to the results, in many cases, the right-eye pupil sizes of the participants were larger than their left-eye pupil sizes while performing the tasks under right-hand and both hands conditions. However, no significant difference was found in relation to the tasks performed under left-hand condition in all scenarios. These results are very critical to shed further light on the cognitive load of the surgical residents by analyzing their left-eye and right-eye pupil sizes. Further research is required to investigate the effect of the difficulty level of each scenario, its appropriateness with the skill level of the participants, and handedness on the differences between the leftand right-eye pupil sizes.
Citation Count: 61
Big Data Software Engineering: Analysis of Knowledge Domains and Skill Sets Using Lda-Based Topic Modeling
(Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers inc, 2019) Gurcan, Fatih; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Software Engineering
Software engineering is a data-driven discipline and an integral part of data science. The introduction of big data systems has led to a great transformation in the architecture, methodologies, knowledge domains, and skills related to software engineering. Accordingly, education programs are now required to adapt themselves to up-to-date developments by first identifying the competencies concerning big data software engineering to meet the industrial needs and follow the latest trends. This paper aims to reveal the knowledge domains and skill sets required for big data software engineering and develop a taxonomy by mapping these competencies. A semi-automatic methodology is proposed for the semantic analysis of the textual contents of online job advertisements related to big data software engineering. This methodology uses the latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), a probabilistic topic-modeling technique to discover the hidden semantic structures from a given textual corpus. The output of this paper is a systematic competency map comprising the essential knowledge domains, skills, and tools for big data software engineering. The findings of this paper are expected to help evaluate and improve IT professionals' vocational knowledge and skills, identify professional roles and competencies in personnel recruitment processes of companies, and meet the skill requirements of the industry through software engineering education programs. Additionally, the proposed model can be extended to blogs, social networks, forums, and other online communities to allow automatic identification of emerging trends and generate contextual tags.
Citation Count: 0
The Borderline Between Serious Games and Simulations
(Iated-int Assoc Technology Education & development, 2014) Guney, Sinem; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Cereci, İbrahim; Tuner, Emre; Cereci, Ibrahim; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Game and simulation-based environments allow trainees to develop motor and cognitive skills as well as to provide some very detailed measurement values which in turn provide a feedback mechanism. It is a well known fact that games and simulation are potentially creating safer and cheaper active learning environments. Even when several benefits of games and simulations are reported in the literature, there is no exact definition of a game and simulation drawing the borders in between. Hence this causes to some complexities and misunderstandings in the field. Accordingly, in this study a definition for simulations and games is searched by being based on the studies found in the literature. Based on these definitions a borderline for the games and simulations will be provided. Results of study aim to guide the educational technology designers by better defining their education designs and better understanding their affect on the educational environments.
Citation Count: 4
Classification of Intermediate and Novice Surgeons' Skill Assessment Through Performance Metrics
(Sage Publications inc, 2019) Topallı, Damla; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
Background. Endoscopic surgeries have become an alternative for open procedures whenever possible. For such types of operations, surgeons are required to gain several skills, whose development needs hands-on practice. Accordingly, gaining these skills today is a challenge for surgical education programs. Despite the development of several technology-enhanced training environments, there are still problems to better integrate these technologies into educational programs. For an appropriate integration, it is critical to assess the skill levels and adapt the training content according to the trainees' requirements. In the literature, there exist several methods for assessing these skill levels. However, there are still problems in practice for objective and repetitive assessment. Methods. The present study aims to estimate the skill levels of participants in surgical training programs in an objective manner by collecting experimental data from residents in an endoscopic surgical simulation environment and gathering performance metrics. Results. It is shown that, by comparing the results of a number of classification algorithms for the best accuracy estimation and feature set, the "novice" and "intermediate" skill levels can be estimated with an accuracy of 86%. Conclusions. The outcomes help surgical educators and instructional system designers to better assess the skill levels of the trainees and guide them accordingly. In addition, objective assessments as highlighted in this study can be beneficial when designing technology-enhanced adaptive learning environments.
Citation Count: 5
Comparison of the Discussion Sections of Phd Dissertations in Educational Technology: the Case of Turkey and the Usa
(Springer, 2018) Karsli, Meva Bayrak; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Karabey, Sinem; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Goktas, Yuksel; Software Engineering
In academic studies, the discussion section is important in which the effect of the results of the study on the existing literature is highlighted and interpreted. The aim of the current paper is to compare the discussion sections of Turkish and American PhD dissertations in the field of Educational Technologies, taking into consideration the basic features that should be found in an effective discussion section. For this purpose, a content analysis was carried out using a checklist developed to examine the basic components, the presentation of the results, the interpretation of the results, and the overall language of 120 PhD dissertations published in this field. The study showed although there were strong aspects, the contribution to the literature and limitations of studies were only included in some of the Turkish PhD dissertations; however, they were included in the majority of American PhD dissertations. Almost all of the dissertations explained the findings and their significance; however, there was no emphasis on the significant and interesting findings in Turkish PhD dissertations. The number of pages of the discussion section in Turkish and American PhD dissertations was almost the same, and the relationship between the number of pages of the discussion section and the quality of the discussion section was rather weak in the dissertations from both countries. The results obtained from the study were evaluated in general and suggestions to consider when writing the discussion section are given.
Citation Count: 13
Construct and Face Validity of the Educational Computer-Based Environment (ece) Assessment Scenarios for Basic Endoneurosurgery Skills
(Springer, 2017) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Şengül, Gökhan; Ozcelik, Erol; Sengul, Gokhan; Özçelik, Erol; Berker, Mustafa; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Background In neurosurgery education, there is a paradigm shift from time-based training to criterion-based model for which competency and assessment becomes very critical. Even virtual reality simulators provide alternatives to improve education and assessment in neurosurgery programs and allow for several objective assessment measures, there are not many tools for assessing the overall performance of trainees. This study aims to develop and validate a tool for assessing the overall performance of participants in a simulation-based endoneurosurgery training environment. Methods A training program was developed in two levels: endoscopy practice and beginning surgical practice based on four scenarios. Then, three experiments were conducted with three corresponding groups of participants (Experiment 1, 45 (32 beginners, 13 experienced), Experiment 2, 53 (40 beginners, 13 experienced), and Experiment 3, 26 (14 novices, 12 intermediate) participants). The results analyzed to understand the common factors among the performance measurements of these experiments. Then, a factor capable of assessing the overall skill levels of surgical residents was extracted. Afterwards, the proposed measure was tested to estimate the experience levels of the participants. Finally, the level of realism of these educational scenarios was assessed. Results The factor formed by time, distance, and accuracy on simulated tasks provided an overall performance indicator. The prediction correctness was very high for the beginners than the one for experienced surgeons in Experiments 1 and 2. When non-dominant hand is used in a surgical procedure-based scenario, skill levels of surgeons can be better predicted. The results indicate that the scenarios in Experiments 1 and 2 can be used as an assessment tool for the beginners, and scenario-2 in Experiment 3 can be used as an assessment tool for intermediate and novice levels. It can be concluded that forming the balance between perceived action capacities and skills is critical for better designing and developing skill assessment surgical simulation tools.
Citation Count: 10
Detecting Latent Topics and Trends in Software Engineering Research Since 1980 Using Probabilistic Topic Modeling
(Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers inc, 2022) Dalveren, Gonca Gökçe Menekşe; Dalveren, Gonca Gokce Menekse; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Soylu, Ahmet; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
The landscape of software engineering research has changed significantly from one year to the next in line with industrial needs and trends. Therefore, today's research literature on software engineering has a rich and multidisciplinary content that includes a large number of studies; however, not many of them demonstrate a holistic view of the field. From this perspective, this study aimed to reveal a holistic view that reflects topics, trends, and trajectories in software engineering research by analyzing the majority of domain-specific articles published over the last 40 years. This study first presents an objective and systematic method for corpus creation through major publication sources in the field. A corpus was then created using this method, which includes 44 domain-specific conferences and journals and 57,174 articles published between 1980 and 2019. Next, this corpus was analyzed using an automated text-mining methodology based on a probabilistic topic-modeling approach. As a result of this analysis, 24 main topics were found. In addition, topical trends in the field were revealed. Finally, three main developmental stages of the field were identified as: the programming age, the software development age, and the software optimization age.
Citation Count: 0
Developing a Data Warehouse for Distance Remote Laboratory
(Ieee, 2007) Turkmen, Guzin; Türkmen, Güzin; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Data warehouse is an important contemporary issue for many organizations and is relatively a new field in the realm of information technology. As data warehousing, e-learning is also a new field. little research has been done regarding the special considerations and characteristics of academic data and the complexity of analyzing such data. Educational institutions measure success very differently from business-oriented organizations and the analyses that are meaningful in such environments cause unique problems in data warehousing. Especially for the educational purposes, data warehouses offer several benefits. This paper discusses the use of Data Warehouse and Decision Support resources to aid in die assessment of Distance Remote Laboratory Environment.
Citation Count: 5
Distinguishing Intermediate and Novice Surgeons by Eye Movements
(Frontiers Media Sa, 2020) Çağıltay, Nergiz; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Software Engineering
Surgical skill-level assessment is key to collecting the required feedback and adapting the educational programs accordingly. Currently, these assessments for the minimal invasive surgery programs are primarily based on subjective methods, and there is no consensus on skill level classifications. One of the most detailed of these classifications categorize skill levels as beginner, novice, intermediate, sub-expert, and expert. To properly integrate skill assessment into minimal invasive surgical education programs and provide skill-based training alternatives, it is necessary to classify the skill levels in as detailed a way as possible and identify the differences between all skill levels in an objective manner. Yet, despite the existence of very encouraging results in the literature, most of the studies have been conducted to better understand the differences between novice and expert surgical skill levels leaving out the other crucial skill levels between them. Additionally, there are very limited studies by considering the eye-movement behaviors of surgical residents. To this end, the present study attempted to distinguish novice- and intermediate-level surgical residents based on their eye movements. The eye-movement data was recorded from 23 volunteer surgical residents while they were performing four computer-based simulated surgical tasks under different hand conditions. The data was analyzed using logistic regression to estimate the skill levels of both groups. The best results of the estimation revealing a 91.3% recognition rate of predicting novice and intermediate surgical residents on one scenario were selected from four under the dominant hand condition. These results show that the eye-movements can be potentially used to identify surgeons with intermediate and novice skills. However, the results also indicate that the order in which the scenarios are provided, and the design of the scenario, the tasks, and their appropriateness with the skill levels of the participants are all critical factors to be considered in improving the estimation ratio, and hence require thorough assessment for future research.
Citation Count: 156
The Effect of Competition on Learning in Games
(Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, 2015) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Özçelik, Erol; Ozcelik, Erol; Ozcelik, Nese Sahin; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Today serious games are having an important impact on areas other than entertainment. Studies show that serious games have a potential of creating learning environments to better reach the educational and training goals. The game design characteristics and game elements are need to be explored in detail for increasing the expected benefits of the gaming environments. In this study, the effect of competition, one of the design elements of game environments, on learning is analyzed experimentally. The study is conducted with 142 students. The results of this study show that when a competition environment is created in a serious game, motivation and post-test scores of learners improve significantly. The results of this study are expected to guide the serious game designers for improving the potential benefits of serious games. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Citation Count: 0
The Effect of Split Attention in Surgical Education
(Springer-verlag Berlin, 2014) Ozcelik, Erol; Özçelik, Erol; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Sengul, Gokhan; Şengül, Gökhan; Tuner, Emre; Ünal, Bülent; Unal, Bulent; Industrial Design; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Surgical education through simulation is an important area to improve the level of education and to decrease the risks, ethical considerations and cost of the educational environments. In the literature there are several studies conducted to better understand the effect of these simulation environments on learning. However among those studies the human-computer interaction point of view is very limited. Surgeons need to look at radiological images such as magnetic resonance images (MRI) to be sure about the location of the patient's tumor during a surgical operation. Thus, they go back and forth between physically separated places (e.g. the operating table and light screen display for MRI volume sets). This study is conducted to investigate the effect of presenting different information sources in close proximity on human performance in surgical education. For this purpose, we have developed a surgical education simulation scenario which is controlled by a haptic interface. To better understand the effect of split attention in surgical education, an experimental study is conducted with 27 subjects. The descriptive results of study show that even the integrated group performed the tasks with a higher accuracy level (by traveling less distance, entering less wrong directions and hitting less walls), the results are not statistically significant. Accordingly, even there are some evidences about the effect of split attention on surgical simulation environments, the results of this study need to be validated by controlling students' skill levels on controlling the haptic devices and 2D/3D space perception skills. The results of this study may guide the system developers to better design the HCI interface of their designs especially for the area of surgical simulation.
Citation Count: 12
The Effect of Training, Used-Hand, and Experience on Endoscopic Surgery Skills in an Educational Computer-Based Simulation Environment (ece) for Endoneurosurgery Training
(Sage Publications inc, 2019) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Özçelik, Erol; Ozcelik, Erol; Isikay, Ilkay; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Hanalioglu, Sahin; Suslu, Ahmet E.; Yucel, Taskin; Berker, Mustafa; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Today, virtual simulation environments create alternative hands-on practice opportunities for surgical training. In order to increase the potential benefits of such environments, it is critical to understand the factors that influence them. This study was conducted to determine the effects of training, used-hand, and experience, as well as the interactions between these variables, on endoscopic surgery skills in an educational computer-based surgical simulation environment. A 2-hour computer-based endoneurosurgery simulation training module was developed for this study. Thirty-one novice- and intermediate-level resident surgeons from the departments of neurosurgery and ear, nose, and throat participated in this experimental study. The results suggest that a 2-hour training during a 2-month period through computer-based simulation environment improves the surgical skills of the residents in both-hand tasks, which is necessary for endoscopic surgical procedures but not in dominant hand tasks. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that computer-based simulation environments potentially improve surgical skills; however, the scenarios for such training modules need to consider especially the bimanual coordination of hands and should be regularly adapted to the individual skill levels and progresses.
Citation Count: 66
The Effect of Uncertainty on Learning in Game-Like Environments
(Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd, 2013) Ozcelik, Erol; Özçelik, Erol; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Ozcelik, Nese Sahin; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Computer Engineering; Software Engineering
Considering the role of games for educational purposes, there has an increase in interest among educators in applying strategies used in popular games to create more engaging learning environments. Learning is more fun and appealing in digital educational games and, as a result, it may become more effective. However, few research studies have been conducted to establish principles based on empirical research for designing engaging and entertaining games so as to improve learning. One of the essential characteristics of games that has been unexplored in the literature is the concept of uncertainty. This study examines the effect of uncertainty on learning outcomes. In order to better understand this effect on learning, a game-like learning tool was developed to teach a database concept in higher education programs of software engineering. The tool is designed in two versions: one including uncertainty and the other including no uncertainty. The experimental results of this study reveal that uncertainty enhances learning. Uncertainty is found to be positively associated with motivation. As motivation increases, participants tend to spend more time on answering the questions and to have higher accuracy in these questions. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Citation Count: 6
An Enhanced Course in Digital Communications
(Tempus Publications, 2014) Kara, Ali; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Dalveren, Yaser; Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering; Software Engineering
Today technological improvements provide several alternatives and opportunities for improving traditional educational systems. However, integrating these technologies in an appropriate and successful way into the curriculum of traditional systems is a challenge. This work presents the enhancements added to an undergraduate course on Digital Communications which is an introductory course offered to senior undergraduates or first year graduate students. The Digital Communications course covers some essential stages in a typical digital communication system, namely, signal formatting such as analog to digital conversion, baseband modulation and bandpass modulation by concentrating on demodulation and detection at the receiver end. The enhancements include computer simulations, web-based simulation tools and remote laboratory experiments along with several out of class activities. The enhancements have improved the course significantly by supporting constructivist and blended learning methods. The improvement to the course was demonstrated over two years, from the student progress assessed from the collated results of the student evaluation forms and a questionnaire on the course learning outcomes, and a comparison of their performance in the written exams. The results show that there is a significant improvement both in the progress and satisfaction of the students on the enhanced course curriculum. This study shows how different technologies have been successfully integrated to the curriculum of Digital Communications course in a higher education organization and concludes its success factors.
Citation Count: 6
Evaluation of Ten Open-Source Eye-Movement Classification Algorithms in Simulated Surgical Scenarios
(Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers inc, 2019) Dalveren, Gonca Gökçe Menekşe; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
Despite providing several insights into visual attention and evidence regarding certain brain states and psychological functions, classifying eye movements is a highly demanding process. Currently, there are several algorithms to classify eye movement events which use different approaches. However, to date, only a limited number of studies have assessed these algorithms under specific conditions, such as those required for surgical training programmes. This study presents an investigation of ten open-source eye-movement classification algorithms using the Eye Tribe eye-tracker. The algorithms were tested on the eye-movement records obtained from 23 surgical residents, who performed computer-based surgical simulation tasks under different hand conditions. The aim was to offer data for the improvement of surgical training programmes. According to the results, due to the different classification methods and default threshold values, the ten algorithms produced different results. Considering the fixation duration, the only common event for all of the investigated algorithms, the binocular-individual threshold (BIT) algorithm resulted in a different clustering compared to the other algorithms. Based on the other set of common events, three clusters were determined by eight algorithms (except BIT and event detection (ED)), distinguishing dispersion-based, velocity-based and modified versions of velocity-based algorithms. Accordingly, it was concluded that dispersion-based and velocity-based algorithms provided different results. Additionally, as it individually specifies the threshold values for the eye-movement data, when there is no consensus about the threshold values to be set, the BIT algorithm can be selected. Especially for such cases like simulation-based surgical skill-training, the use of individualised threshold values in the BIT algorithm can be more beneficial in classifying the raw eye data and thus evaluating the individual progress levels of trainees based on their eye movement behaviours. In conclusion, the threshold values had a critical effect on the algorithm results. Since default values may not always be suitable for the unique features of different data sets, guidelines should be developed to indicate how the threshold values are set for each algorithm.
Citation Count: 7
Evolution of Software Testing Strategies and Trends: Semantic Content Analysis of Software Research Corpus of the Last 40 Years
(Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers inc, 2022) Dalveren, Gonca Gökçe Menekşe; Dalveren, Gonca Gokce Menekse; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Roman, Dumitru; Soylu, Ahmet; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
From the early days of computer systems to the present, software testing has been considered as a crucial process that directly affects the quality and reliability of software-oriented products and services. Accordingly, there is a huge amount of literature regarding the improvement of software testing approaches. However, there are limited reviews that show the whole picture of the software testing studies covering the topics and trends of the field. This study aims to provide a general figure reflecting topics and trends of software testing by analyzing the majority of software testing articles published in the last 40 years. A semi-automated methodology is developed for the analysis of software testing corpus created from core publication sources. The methodology of the study is based on the implementation of probabilistic topic modeling approach to discover hidden semantic patterns in the 14,684 published articles addressing software testing issues between 1980 and 2019. The results revealed 42 topics of the field, highlighting five software development ages, namely specification, detection, generation, evaluation, and prediction. The recent accelerations of the topics also showed a trend toward prediction-based software testing actions. Additionally, a higher trend on the topics concerning "Security Vulnerability", "Open Source" and "Mobile Application" was identified. This study showed that the current trend of software testing is towards prediction-based testing strategies. Therefore, the findings of this study may provide valuable insights for the industry and software communities to be prepared for the possible changes in the software testing procedures using prediction-based approaches.
Citation Count: 0
Expectancy From, and Acceptance of Augmented Reality in Dental Education Programs: a Structural Equation Model
(Wiley, 2024) Toker, Sacip; Toker, Sacip; Akay, Canan; Basmaci, Fulya; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Kilicarslan, Mehmet Ali; Mumcu, Emre; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
ObjectiveDental schools need hands-on training and feedback. Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies enable remote work and training. Education programs only partially integrated these technologies. For better technology integration, infrastructure readiness, prior-knowledge readiness, expectations, and learner attitudes toward AR and VR technologies must be understood together. Thus, this study creates a structural equation model to understand how these factors affect dental students' technology use.MethodsA correlational survey was done. Four questionnaires were sent to 755 dental students from three schools. These participants were convenience-sampled. Surveys were developed using validity tests like explanatory and confirmatory factor analyses, Cronbach's alpha, and composite reliability. Ten primary research hypotheses are tested with path analysis.ResultsA total of 81.22% responded to the survey (755 out of 930). Positive AR attitude, expectancy, and acceptance were endogenous variables. Positive attitudes toward AR were significantly influenced by two exogenous variables: infrastructure readiness (B = 0.359, beta = 0.386, L = 0.305, U = 0.457, p = 0.002) and prior-knowledge readiness (B = -0.056, beta = 0.306, L = 0.305, U = 0.457, p = 0.002). Expectancy from AR was affected by infrastructure, prior knowledge, and positive and negative AR attitudes. Infrastructure, prior-knowledge readiness, and positive attitude toward AR had positive effects on expectancy from AR (B = 0.201, beta = 0.204, L = 0.140, U = 0.267, p = 0.002). Negative attitude had a negative impact (B = -0.056, beta = -0.054, L = 0.091, U = 0.182, p = 0.002). Another exogenous variable was AR acceptance, which was affected by infrastructure, prior-knowledge preparation, positive attitudes, and expectancy. Significant differences were found in infrastructure, prior-knowledge readiness, positive attitude toward AR, and expectancy from AR (B = 0.041, beta = 0.046, L = 0.026, U = 0.086, p = 0.054).ConclusionInfrastructure and prior-knowledge readiness for AR significantly affect positive AR attitudes. Together, these three criteria boost AR's potential. Infrastructure readiness, prior-knowledge readiness, positive attitudes toward AR, and AR expectations all increase AR adoption. The study provides insights that can help instructional system designers, developers, dental education institutions, and program developers better integrate these technologies into dental education programs. Integration can improve dental students' hands-on experience and program performance by providing training options anywhere and anytime.
Citation Count: 16
Exploratory Analysis of Topic Interests and Their Evolution in Bioinformatics Research Using Semantic Text Mining and Probabilistic Topic Modeling
(Ieee-inst Electrical Electronics Engineers inc, 2022) Çağıltay, Nergiz; Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Software Engineering
Bioinformatics, which has developed rapidly in recent years with the collaborative contributions of the fields of biology and informatics, provides a deeper perspective on the analysis and understanding of complex biological data. In this regard, bioinformatics has an interdisciplinary background and a rich literature in terms of domain-specific studies. Providing a holistic picture of bioinformatics research by analyzing the major topics and their trends and developmental stages is critical for an understanding of the field. From this perspective, this study aimed to analyze the last 50 years of bioinformatics studies (a total of 71,490 articles) by using an automated text-mining methodology based on probabilistic topic modeling to reveal the main topics, trends, and the evolution of the field. As a result, 24 major topics that reflect the focuses and trends of the field were identified. Based on the discovered topics and their temporal tendencies from 1970 until 2020, the developmental periods of the field were divided into seven phases, from the "newborn" to the "wisdom" stages. Moreover, the findings indicated a recent increase in the popularity of the topics "Statistical Estimation", "Data Analysis Tools", "Genomic Data", "Gene Expression", and "Prediction". The results of the study revealed that, in bioinformatics studies, interest in innovative computing and data analysis methods based on artificial intelligence and machine learning has gradually increased, thereby marking a significant improvement in contemporary analysis tools and techniques based on prediction.
Citation Count: 2
Exploring the Influence of Countries' Economic Conditions on Massive Open Online Course (mooc) Participation: a Study of 3.5 Million Mitx Learners
(Athabasca Univ Press, 2023) Cagiltay, Nergiz Ercil; Çağıltay, Nergiz; Toker, Sacip; Toker, Sacip; Cagiltay, Kursat; Information Systems Engineering; Software Engineering
It is well known that there are disparities in access to education around the world, with developed countries generally having better educational resources and opportunities compared to developing countries. Massive open online courses (MOOCs) have been proposed as a way to bridge this gap by providing free or low-cost online education to anyone with an Internet connection. This study aimed to better understand the effects of location, both country and region, on the use of MOOCs, using data from 3.5 million learners who registered for MOOCs offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The data set provided a broad picture of how MOOCs are being used around the globe. The results of the study indicated significant differences in the use of MOOCs among students from different countries and their corresponding economic levels. In order to address these differences and improve access to education through MOOCs, the study suggested several actions that could be taken. These include providing better infrastructure and support for MOOC learners in developing countries, increasing awareness of and access to MOOCs in these regions, and working to improve the quality and relevance of MOOC offerings. Overall, the study highlighted the potential of MOOCs to bridge the educational gap between developed and developing countries, but also emphasized the need for continued efforts to remove barriers and improve access to these resources.