@article{AguadoCabalarFandinoetal.2019,
  author    = {Aguado, Felicidad and Cabalar, Pedro and Fandi{\~n}o, Jorge and Pearce, David and Perez, Gilberto and Vidal-Peracho, Concepcion},
  title     = {Revisiting Explicit Negation in Answer Set Programming},
  series = {Theory and practice of logic programming},
  volume    = {19},
  journal   = {Theory and practice of logic programming},
  number    = {5-6},
  publisher = {Cambridge Univ. Press},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {1471-0684},
  doi       = {10.1017/S1471068419000267},
  pages     = {908 -- 924},
  year      = {2019},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{Ahmad2014,
  author    = {Ahmad, Nadeem},
  title     = {People centered HMI's for deaf and functionally illiterate users},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-70391},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {The objective and motivation behind this research is to provide applications with easy-to-use interfaces to communities of deaf and functionally illiterate users, which enables them to work without any human assistance. Although recent years have witnessed technological advancements, the availability of technology does not ensure accessibility to information and communication technologies (ICT). Extensive use of text from menus to document contents means that deaf or functionally illiterate can not access services implemented on most computer software. Consequently, most existing computer applications pose an accessibility barrier to those who are unable to read fluently. Online technologies intended for such groups should be developed in continuous partnership with primary users and include a thorough investigation into their limitations, requirements and usability barriers. In this research, I investigated existing tools in voice, web and other multimedia technologies to identify learning gaps and explored ways to enhance the information literacy for deaf and functionally illiterate users. I worked on the development of user-centered interfaces to increase the capabilities of deaf and low literacy users by enhancing lexical resources and by evaluating several multimedia interfaces for them. The interface of the platform-independent Italian Sign Language (LIS) Dictionary has been developed to enhance the lexical resources for deaf users. The Sign Language Dictionary accepts Italian lemmas as input and provides their representation in the Italian Sign Language as output. The Sign Language dictionary has 3082 signs as set of Avatar animations in which each sign is linked to a corresponding Italian lemma. I integrated the LIS lexical resources with MultiWordNet (MWN) database to form the first LIS MultiWordNet(LMWN). LMWN contains information about lexical relations between words, semantic relations between lexical concepts (synsets), correspondences between Italian and sign language lexical concepts and semantic fields (domains). The approach enhances the deaf users' understanding of written Italian language and shows that a relatively small set of lexicon can cover a significant portion of MWN. Integration of LIS signs with MWN made it useful tool for computational linguistics and natural language processing. The rule-based translation process from written Italian text to LIS has been transformed into service-oriented system. The translation process is composed of various modules including parser, semantic interpreter, generator, and spatial allocation planner. This translation procedure has been implemented in the Java Application Building Center (jABC), which is a framework for extreme model driven design (XMDD). The XMDD approach focuses on bringing software development closer to conceptual design, so that the functionality of a software solution could be understood by someone who is unfamiliar with programming concepts. The transformation addresses the heterogeneity challenge and enhances the re-usability of the system. For enhancing the e-participation of functionally illiterate users, two detailed studies were conducted in the Republic of Rwanda. In the first study, the traditional (textual) interface was compared with the virtual character-based interactive interface. The study helped to identify usability barriers and users evaluated these interfaces according to three fundamental areas of usability, i.e. effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. In another study, we developed four different interfaces to analyze the usability and effects of online assistance (consistent help) for functionally illiterate users and compared different help modes including textual, vocal and virtual character on the performance of semi-literate users. In our newly designed interfaces the instructions were automatically translated in Swahili language. All the interfaces were evaluated on the basis of task accomplishment, time consumption, System Usability Scale (SUS) rating and number of times the help was acquired. The results show that the performance of semi-literate users improved significantly when using the online assistance. The dissertation thus introduces a new development approach in which virtual characters are used as additional support for barely literate or naturally challenged users. Such components enhanced the application utility by offering a variety of services like translating contents in local language, providing additional vocal information, and performing automatic translation from text to sign language. Obviously, there is no such thing as one design solution that fits for all in the underlying domain. Context sensitivity, literacy and mental abilities are key factors on which I concentrated and the results emphasize that computer interfaces must be based on a thoughtful definition of target groups, purposes and objectives.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AhmadShoaibPrinetto2015,
  author    = {Ahmad, Nadeem and Shoaib, Umar and Prinetto, Paolo},
  title     = {Usability of Online Assistance From Semiliterate Users' Perspective},
  series = {International journal of human computer interaction},
  volume    = {31},
  journal   = {International journal of human computer interaction},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Taylor \& Francis Group},
  address   = {Philadelphia},
  issn      = {1044-7318},
  doi       = {10.1080/10447318.2014.925772},
  pages     = {55 -- 64},
  year      = {2015},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AlLabanRegerLucke2022,
  author    = {Al Laban, Firas and Reger, Martin and Lucke, Ulrike},
  title     = {Closing the Policy Gap in the Academic Bridge},
  series = {Education sciences},
  volume    = {12},
  journal   = {Education sciences},
  number    = {12},
  publisher = {MDPI},
  address   = {Basel},
  issn      = {2227-7102},
  doi       = {10.3390/educsci12120930},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The highly structured nature of the educational sector demands effective policy mechanisms close to the needs of the field. That is why evidence-based policy making, endorsed by the European Commission under Erasmus+ Key Action 3, aims to make an alignment between the domains of policy and practice. Against this background, this article addresses two issues: First, that there is a vertical gap in the translation of higher-level policies to local strategies and regulations. Second, that there is a horizontal gap between educational domains regarding the policy awareness of individual players. This was analyzed in quantitative and qualitative studies with domain experts from the fields of virtual mobility and teacher training. From our findings, we argue that the combination of both gaps puts the academic bridge from secondary to tertiary education at risk, including the associated knowledge proficiency levels. We discuss the role of digitalization in the academic bridge by asking the question: which value does the involved stakeholders expect from educational policies? As a theoretical basis, we rely on the model of value co-creation for and by stakeholders. We describe the used instruments along with the obtained results and proposed benefits. Moreover, we reflect on the methodology applied, and we finally derive recommendations for future academic bridge policies.},
  language  = {en}
}
@misc{AlLabanRegerLucke2022,
  author    = {Al Laban, Firas and Reger, Martin and Lucke, Ulrike},
  title     = {Closing the Policy Gap in the Academic Bridge},
  series = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  journal   = {Zweitver{\"o}ffentlichungen der Universit{\"a}t Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe},
  number    = {1310},
  issn      = {1866-8372},
  doi       = {10.25932/publishup-58357},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-583572},
  pages     = {22},
  year      = {2022},
  abstract  = {The highly structured nature of the educational sector demands effective policy mechanisms close to the needs of the field. That is why evidence-based policy making, endorsed by the European Commission under Erasmus+ Key Action 3, aims to make an alignment between the domains of policy and practice. Against this background, this article addresses two issues: First, that there is a vertical gap in the translation of higher-level policies to local strategies and regulations. Second, that there is a horizontal gap between educational domains regarding the policy awareness of individual players. This was analyzed in quantitative and qualitative studies with domain experts from the fields of virtual mobility and teacher training. From our findings, we argue that the combination of both gaps puts the academic bridge from secondary to tertiary education at risk, including the associated knowledge proficiency levels. We discuss the role of digitalization in the academic bridge by asking the question: which value does the involved stakeholders expect from educational policies? As a theoretical basis, we rely on the model of value co-creation for and by stakeholders. We describe the used instruments along with the obtained results and proposed benefits. Moreover, we reflect on the methodology applied, and we finally derive recommendations for future academic bridge policies.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{AlAreqi2017,
  author    = {Al-Areqi, Samih Taha Mohammed},
  title     = {Semantics-based automatic geospatial service composition},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-402616},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xvi, 163},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Although it has become common practice to build applications based on the reuse of existing components or services, technical complexity and semantic challenges constitute barriers to ensuring a successful and wide reuse of components and services. In the geospatial application domain, the barriers are self-evident due to heterogeneous geographic data, a lack of interoperability and complex analysis processes. Constructing workflows manually and discovering proper services and data that match user intents and preferences is difficult and time-consuming especially for users who are not trained in software development. Furthermore, considering the multi-objective nature of environmental modeling for the assessment of climate change impacts and the various types of geospatial data (e.g., formats, scales, and georeferencing systems) increases the complexity challenges. Automatic service composition approaches that provide semantics-based assistance in the process of workflow design have proven to be a solution to overcome these challenges and have become a frequent demand especially by end users who are not IT experts. In this light, the major contributions of this thesis are: (i) Simplification of service reuse and workflow design of applications for climate impact analysis by following the eXtreme Model-Driven Development (XMDD) paradigm. (ii) Design of a semantic domain model for climate impact analysis applications that comprises specifically designed services, ontologies that provide domain-specific vocabulary for referring to types and services, and the input/output annotation of the services using the terms defined in the ontologies. (iii) Application of a constraint-driven method for the automatic composition of workflows for analyzing the impacts of sea-level rise. The application scenario demonstrates the impact of domain modeling decisions on the results and the performance of the synthesis algorithm.},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{AlSaffar2016,
  author    = {Al-Saffar, Loay Talib Ahmed},
  title     = {Analysing prerequisites, expectations, apprehensions, and attitudes of University students studying computer science},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {128},
  year      = {2016},
  language  = {en}
}
@book{AlSaffar2013,
  author    = {Al-Saffar, Loay Talib Ahmed},
  title     = {Where girls the role of boys in CS - attitudes of CS students in a female-dominated environment},
  isbn      = {978-3-86956-220-9},
  year      = {2013},
  language  = {en}
}
@phdthesis{AlSaffar2016,
  author    = {Al-Saffar, Loay Talib Ahmed},
  title     = {Analysing prerequisites, expectations, apprehensions, and attitudes of university students studying Computer science},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-98437},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  pages     = {xii, 131},
  year      = {2016},
  abstract  = {The main objective of this dissertation is to analyse prerequisites, expectations, apprehensions, and attitudes of students studying computer science, who are willing to gain a bachelor degree. The research will also investigate in the students' learning style according to the Felder-Silverman model. These investigations fall in the attempt to make an impact on reducing the "dropout"/shrinkage rate among students, and to suggest a better learning environment. The first investigation starts with a survey that has been made at the computer science department at the University of Baghdad to investigate the attitudes of computer science students in an environment dominated by women, showing the differences in attitudes between male and female students in different study years. Students are accepted to university studies via a centrally controlled admission procedure depending mainly on their final score at school. This leads to a high percentage of students studying subjects they do not want. Our analysis shows that 75\% of the female students do not regret studying computer science although it was not their first choice. And according to statistics over previous years, women manage to succeed in their study and often graduate on top of their class. We finish with a comparison of attitudes between the freshman students of two different cultures and two different university enrolment procedures (University of Baghdad, in Iraq, and the University of Potsdam, in Germany) both with opposite gender majority. The second step of investigation took place at the department of computer science at the University of Potsdam in Germany and analyzes the learning styles of students studying the three major fields of study offered by the department (computer science, business informatics, and computer science teaching). Investigating the differences in learning styles between the students of those study fields who usually take some joint courses is important to be aware of which changes are necessary to be adopted in the teaching methods to address those different students. It was a two stage study using two questionnaires; the main one is based on the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire of B. A. Solomon and R. M. Felder, and the second questionnaire was an investigation on the students' attitudes towards the findings of their personal first questionnaire. Our analysis shows differences in the preferences of learning style between male and female students of the different study fields, as well as differences between students with the different specialties (computer science, business informatics, and computer science teaching). The third investigation looks closely into the difficulties, issues, apprehensions and expectations of freshman students studying computer science. The study took place at the computer science department at the University of Potsdam with a volunteer sample of students. The goal is to determine and discuss the difficulties and issues that they are facing in their study that may lead them to think in dropping-out, changing the study field, or changing the university. The research continued with the same sample of students (with business informatics students being the majority) through more than three semesters. Difficulties and issues during the study were documented, as well as students' attitudes, apprehensions, and expectations. Some of the professors and lecturers opinions and solutions to some students' problems were also documented. Many participants had apprehensions and difficulties, especially towards informatics subjects. Some business informatics participants began to think of changing the university, in particular when they reached their third semester, others thought about changing their field of study. Till the end of this research, most of the participants continued in their studies (the study they have started with or the new study they have changed to) without leaving the higher education system.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{AlSaffar2013,
  author    = {Al-Saffar, Loay Talib Ahmed},
  title     = {Where girls take the role of boys in CS},
  series = {Commentarii informaticae didacticae : (CID)},
  journal   = {Commentarii informaticae didacticae : (CID)},
  number    = {5},
  publisher = {Universit{\"a}tsverlag Potsdam},
  address   = {Potsdam},
  issn      = {1868-0844},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-65034},
  pages     = {149 -- 154},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {A survey has been carried out in the Computer Science (CS) department at the University of Baghdad to investigate the attitudes of CS students in a female dominant environment, showing the differences between male and female students in different academic years. We also compare the attitudes of the freshman students of two different cultures (University of Baghdad, Iraq, and the University of Potsdam).},
  language  = {en}
}