The aim of this studyhas been to capture preschool children's strategies, when they include and exclude each other in play. My aim was also to find out how children choose to integrate into an already existing game. My questions were: What strategies are used by the children at the preschool when they want to exclude or include each other? How to integrate the children when they want to be involved in an ongoing game and how they will be received during the time of play? My theoretical starting points are from Vygotsky's theory of proximal development zone, and Michel Foucault's perspective on power, and also research on the subject.The empirical study was conducted using the observations at two preschools. The children I observed were between four to five years old.The results show that children used different strategies, and when the strategy did not work so the child could switch to another.

This paper investigates the usability of the intelligence test Wechsler Nonverbal Scale of Ability (WNV). Twenty four children in two different age-groups were tested with WNV, 10 children between ages 5 - 6, and 14 children between ages 9 - 10. The WNV turned out to be a useful test when some verbal communication was used in the test situation. This was especially apparent among the younger children, who needed extra verbal instructions and verbal support through the different subtests. The test also contained standardized verbal instructions for all ages.

Introduction:Corporate limits becoming more diffuse due to the globalization taking place and requirements for analytical strategies are becoming more fundamental parts of organizations. Business Intelligence systems are hot and not without reason, today's world is spinning faster and with a flow of information that is constantly increasing Business Intelligence promises to introduce a support that will render a better decision-making, something that everyone wants.Problem Discussion:The local government business has today demands from the Swedish School-inspection to analyze and create adequate target images to the school and students meet curriculum goals and guidelines. Therefore, local government activities has increasingly begun to implement Business Intelligence tools, with the purpose to facilitate strategic and operational decisions were the result plays an increasing role in today's society.Purpose:This study evaluates how the analysis tool Qlikview fulfills the function of monitoring and controlling the improved student achievement in public schools.Method:The evaluation has been conducted qualitative interviews with staffs that have leadership positions in each municipality and management and possess a deep knowledge of the analysis tool and its processes.Conclusion:The evaluation has shown positive effects on the monitoring and control of student performance through better control of school operations..

This qualitative study examines how users of boardgamegeek.com chooses which analogue game to buy. The purpose of the study is to find out which factors constitutes the choice of games and how the information of these factors reach the consumer. The investigation is executed by users of boardgamegeek.com explaining their latest game purchase in a questionnaire survey online. The results show that many of the respondents research the games they are interrested in beforehand and based on this information make their choice. Despite of this we can see that many game developers and distributors does not make this information available for the consumers, but leaves this task to the public..

As the speed and complexity of computers have increased so have software and the expectations of users. Software development follows a straightforward evolution where complicated tasks are made easier by better tools; this repeats itself as those tasks in turn are automated.Software mechanics that were seen as revolutionary a decade ago are seen as obvious requirements that no multimedia application can be without.dotNet is the next step in line and makes it easier and faster to build software.This report focuses on the development of a multimedia platform developed in dotNet. It does this by developing the tools and framework from which a complete game can be built.A game is selected because it combines the most aspects of multimedia development, such as interaction, graphics, sound & music. The report goes further by describing why the game looks like it does as well as the mechanics of the game and the benefits of the dotNet platform..

My aim in this case study has been to create a method for creature design to test this method in a production and evaluate the results. To achieve this I studied and analyzed the methods of three concept artists and illustrators named James Gurney, Neville Page and Iain McCaig. From the analysis of these artist´s methods, combined with my own personal experience, a new method was formed. To test this method a creature was designed based on directives given by a game design group in the process of creating a table top role playing game in a fictitious world. These directives where given for the creature´s role and its living conditions.

In game development, performance is everything and the Playstation 3 provides a unique platform for utilizing parallelization of code to achieve extremely high performance. In this master?s thesis the issue of animation with smooth skinning is migrated from being a GPU process to becoming a parallelized and 358% faster process. This method is incorporated in an existing commercial game engine and integrated in a currently in development title for the Playstation 3. An in-depth study covers parallel processors, the CELL processor, used in the Playstation 3, and how contemporary industry leading game developers are utilizing the same unique architecture to increase their own games? performance..

The aim of this essay is to investigate the function and development of non-player characters (NPC) in the TV/computer game Dragon Age: Origins. The NPCs are analysed in order to see if their development is affected by the player character?s (PC) background and interactions. The game?s ethics is also investigated by studying how the NPCs treat the PC and what significance they give to his background and actions.The results show that the NPCs are affected by the PC?s interactions, and furthermore, that they are round characters, which is unusual in TV/computer games.

The purpose of this study is to explore the Swedish site Funbeat which is a space dedicated to people who share an interest in exercising in general, and running in particular. By applying a netnographic analysis, I will investigate if Funbeat matches the criteria of a participatory culture and how the members manage to establish a collective intelligence within the community. In order to achieve this, I will analyze the interactivity between the participants which occurs in discussion threads concerning injuries related to running, in the sites discussion forum. The results will then be discussed in relation to previous research within the field for participatory culture, collective intelligence and interactivity.The outcome of the study revealed that Funbeat can be regarded as very good example of a participatory culture. By each member sharing their individual knowledge in matters regarding injuries, a collective intelligence was established.

I dagens samhälle är majoriteten av våra tillgångar digitaliserade och bevarade i olika typer av informationssystem. Genom Access Control (sv. behörighetsstyrning) säkerställs att användare får korrekt åtkomst till dessa tillgångar. I takt med att organisationer genererar allt mer affärskritisk data i sina informationssystem har dock hanteringen av användare och behörigheter komplicerats. En modern genre inom begreppet informationssystem som länge visat ökad tillväxt är Business Intelligence (BI).

In this study we examine how much latency is required in an RTS-game (Real-Time Strategy) before the player quits the game. In the study latency is simulated in the games Age of Mythology and Starcraft: Brood War with the program WANem, and then the testplayers are asked ?Do you want to quit because of latency??. This data is then gathered and compiled into graphs to show the results. These results show that the limit for when players want to quit differs between the two games and that there are two factors that play into this.

Inom Business Intelligence har begreppet Self-Service Business Intelligence (Self-Service BI) vuxit fram. Self-Service BI omfattar verktyg vilka möjliggör för slutanvändare att göra analyser och skapa rapporter utan teknisk support. Ett av dessa verktyg är Microsoft PowerPivot.På Transportstyrelsens Järnvägsavdelning finns behov av ett Self-Service BI-verktyg. Vi fick i uppdrag av Sogeti att undersöka om PowerPivot var ett lämpligt verktyg för Transportstyrelsen. Målet med uppsatsen har varit att testa vilka tekniska möjligheter och begränsningar PowerPivot har samt huruvida PowerPivot är användbart för Transportstyrelsen.För att få en djupare förståelse för Self-Service BI har vi kartlagt vilka möjligheter och begränsningar med Self-Service BI-verktyg som finns beskrivna i litteraturen.

Operational Business Intelligence (OpBI) är en typ av Business Intelligence som används i det operativa arbetet och det röner mer och mer intresse. I samarbete med ett företag har en fallstudie genomförts med syftet att etablera och kontextualisera riktlinjer för att kunna införa en ökad automatiseringsgrad i en OpBI-lösning som används för kreditbedömning av fakturor.Studien har fokuserat på att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar finansieringsbolag vid val av automatiseringsgrad, val av parametrar att använda vid kreditbedömning samt val av antalet regler som styr automatiseringen. Inom ramen för fallstudien har en analys av det utvalda systemet utförts och intervjuer gjorts med kreditupplysnings­bolagen som är leverantörer av de externa para­metrarna samt intervjuer med sju finansieringsbolag som använder det utvalda systemet.Fall­studien har resulterat i 19 riktlinjer. Resultatet visar att ju högre volym som hanteras, ju högre tidspress det finns i pro­cessen och ju större tillit som finns för en automatisering, desto högre auto­matiseringsgrad väljs..

This project report describes a supplement for character creation in a tabletop role-playing game ?Dragons and Demons." The purpose of this project is to improve the character creation for the players? trough the narrative elements such as character?s background story. The applied qualitative methods such as a test panel and a questionnaire were conducted for the evaluation of theories used during character creation and to get feedback on the supplement?s creative value for the players. The aim of the questionnaire was to see how the method for the character creation differs from the regular way of making a character for a tabletop role-playing game and if this idea improves user experience during the tabletop role-playing game.The results of the evaluation are based on answers from novice and experienced players, and conclude that the additional background story creates an insight into the character's past, which makes it easier for novice players to get quick started with character creation.

De dynamiska förhållanden som råder för företagen i omvärlden. Har bidragit till att beslutfattare inom företagen har påbörjat att tillämpa olika typer av informationssystem för att effektivisera beslutsprocesser och informationshanteringsprocesser Den ständigt pågående ökning av information som erhålls via dagens informationssystem kan utlösa information overload, som i sin tur skapar ett förvirrat och dysfunktionellt beteende hos beslutfattare. Genom att tillämpa business intelligence bidrar till att information overload problematiken reduceras markant. Studien har till ambition att med hjälp av de befintliga teorierna inom ämnesområdet upprätta en egen analysmodell i syfte för att kunna estimera studiens åtta stycken aktörers beteendemässiga avsikt till att tillämpa business intelligence. Det genom att beskriva och tolka aktörernas syn på hur business intelligence kan komma att inverka på den framtida styrningen av affärsprocesserna.