Our work is part of the Game Metadata Research (GAMER) Group’s project: Constructing a Metadata Schema for Video Games and Interactive Media, which aims to capture the essential information about these materials in a standardized, user-centered way. The deliverables of our project include: (1) an XML schema representation of their metadata scheme; (2) a repository of XML instances containing cataloging records of sample video games; (3) a user-friendly data input form for game catalogers; (4) interfaces enabling users to search and browse game records within the database; (5) documentation for users and future maintenance. This project consolidates and enhances GAMER’s previously disparate and incomplete game data into a single, easily extensible format, and delivers a concrete product to help GAMER evaluate their developing metadata scheme. It provides a basis for advancing the GAMER research, contributing to the goal of improving video game organization and access for gamers, catalogers, and researchers.

The UW Department of Global Health website provides information to a diverse audience that includes students, researchers and global health professionals. However, the site is not easy to navigate, and the department desires to improve usability as well as increase visibility of their academic programs. Our research examined three areas: the goals of the department staff, website statistics, and student-user needs.  Website analytics and a content inventory of the current site were evaluated.  Usability testing was performed with students through surveys, user observation, and in-depth interviews allowing us to understand their search behavior and information needs.   The quantitative and qualitative data collected was used to create a prototype taxonomy for website navigation and a suggested redesign of the homepage. Recommendations to improve the website, and address the needs of prospective and current students, were presented to the Department of Global Health for incorporation into their website redesign project this summer.

Teen pregnancy rates vary widely throughout North Carolina, corresponding with access to effective sex ed training, and spiking in rural southeastern counties. Reaching teens in their mode of information behavior and with content that they can relate to and trust presents a barrier to providing effective sex ed. We did extensive research and made recommendations for MyHealthEd, an organization adapting an existing curriculum to create a comprehensive online sex ed program for North Carolina teenagers, and rural high school populations in general. The adaptations will bridge the gap in content, language, and mode of access. The suggestions for content (gamification, interactive peer-peer scenarios, digital storytelling) offer the potential to transform sex education nation- and worldwide, as well as online learning overall.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the lowest primary education enrollment and youth literacy rate of all the regions reported to the United Nations. In fact, more than half of the world’s out-of-school children live in SSA and one out every four children who actually enter primary education will leave before completing the last grade (United Nations 2013). This study examines the design and planning stages of a project known as the Namibian Library Development Program (NLDP) to identify if it has the potential to support primary education in SSA. It uses documentation provided by consultants to the project as well as literature, multimedia, and empirical data to examine relationships between stakeholders and possibilities for school improvements. Ultimately, the study illustrates how NLDP’s innovative and thorough approach could assist primary education in SSA but only if issues surrounding its sustainability are accounted for. 

There are currently few ways for students to explicitly showcase the skills they learn outside of school to advance them in their career and education. At the Pacific Science Center, youth in the Discovery Corps program become leaders in science and presentation, developing crucial personal and professional skills that that they would not have otherwise developed in school. Our solution to giving the students the recognition they deserve is to design a digital badge system for the Discovery Corps Program. Digital badges provide the youth with a way to present these skills in an online platform that they can share with potential employers and educators. This creates a precedent for which skills learned outside of school can be quantified in an applicable manner. Students can gain recognition for skills that previously were unacknowledged, giving them an advantage in reaching future goals.

Our project addresses outdated and clunky software being used in pathology departments across the U.S. and Canada. Our team is working with Peak Medical Technologies, a consulting firm aiming to develop a new suite to solve many problems prevalent in this field such as high error-rates in filling out medical forms. We are addressing this problem by creating a data-driven approach that reduces confusion and helps push users towards correct decisions. Our solution will be considered successful if an inexperienced user (not just a doctor or pathologist) can complete a request for sample testing through our computerized form with a low error rate.

This project addresses the lack of well tested, comprehensive, and statically-typed data structures and algorithms for TypeScript and JavaScript. In JavaScript the only data structures provided are arrays, and string key hash maps. This limits the ability of JavaScript developers to solve problems; where other data structures would work better with less code and more efficiency. Having a comprehensive library of well-researched data structures and algorithms will increase the productivity of JavaScript and TypeScript developers. Success was gauged by documentation for public APIs, extensive test coverage, and published public modules containing the completed library. Surveys were also conducted on various online development communities in order to determine the utility and quality of the library.

Millions of people are suffering from cancer and tumors. We need to make a difference! With dedication to ensure patients can receive the most effective treatment possible, the Presage online monitoring system are developed to improve the cancer drug development process and gap current technology limitations. The web application provides online data monitoring by enabling scientists to cross check data and ensure both accuracy and precision of predicted results by switching different classification algorithms. Also, they are able to interact with charts and graphics demonstrating historical data comparison and distribution. Even without accessing the app, they will receive highly customized digest reports containing details about outlier images. We make information intuitive and innovative.

In 2012, an estimated 421,000 people were injured from crashes involving distracted drivers. This is a 9% increase from the previous year. Locking drivers out of their phone is not a way to combat this issue. Instead, we have developed an Android lockscreen application that allows users to set commonly used driving apps so that they have quick access to them when needed, as well as provide data via the phones’ sensors to show how safely the users drive. Our app not only reduces time spent fumbling through the phone to find specific apps, but it also tells the user they might be an often-distracted driver. We found that through the use of our lockscreen replacement, testers spent up to 13 less seconds browsing to an app they wanted to use, indicating that our app would help drivers pay more attention to the road.

With the influx of children entering elementary school born after 2007 (notably, the year of the first iPhone), it is increasingly important for school libraries to consider the role of electronic materials in the library. Studies have shown that elementary schools across the nation are less likely to provide eBooks to their students. Here in the West, fewer schools offer eBooks than any other region in the United States. We have created a plan for the implementation of an eCollection at Fernwood Elementary School in the Northshore School District (NSD). Together, we will meet the information needs of Fernwood’s students and help this school district move into the digital age—making NSD a model for future schools in the Pacific Northwest. Our students are digital natives. It is time for libraries and schools to address their specific needs and bridge the remaining gap between technology and education.