http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/8630 2026-05-15T14:41:54Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33253 Title: Exploring Student Anxiety and Experience in Performance-Based Assessments using AIvaluate: An LLM-Augmented Emotionally Intelligent Pedagogical AI Conversational Agent Authors: Yusuf, H; Money, A; Daylamani-Zad, D Abstract: ... Description: ... 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33230 Title: A Simulation-Based Framework For The Assessment Of Supply Chain Resilience Authors: Hua, EY; Mintram, KS; Anagnostou, A Abstract: Enhancing the resilience of a supply chain (SC) presents a critical and challenging problem. Many of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that measure the operational effectiveness of different SC entities conflict with each other; such conflicts frequently arise between local optimization and global resilience across the SC. Moreover, the SC has hidden brittle points that adversaries could exploit, resulting in degradation of overall SC performance. We propose a framework for assessing the resilience of an SC exposed to exogeneous risks. The framework consists of an agent-based simulation model of a generalized SC, a simulation-based optimization algorithm, and a decision support capability. The project’s continuing research will center on areas such as implementation of the framework to create a tool that enables the sponsor to make data-driven, informed decisions that buttress SC resilience to exogenous risks 2025-06-24T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33229 Title: An international educational framework for teaching simulation Authors: Kogler, C; Roeder, T; Tako, A; Anagnostou, A Abstract: Teaching Discrete-Event Simulation and Agent-Based Simulation is a complex mission faced by academics around the globe. Challenges include a heterogeneous student cohort with varying prior knowledge and skills, diverse emphases across universities and fields of study, and a lack of structured pedagogical guidance in the scientific literature. This paper presents a novel simulation education framework grounded in constructive alignment. It comprises clearly defined learning objectives based on the revised Bloom’s taxonomy, an innovative pedagogical structure, and an effective learner-centred assessment portfolio. This approach integrates course design elements and practical application examples for individual and collective learning successes. The framework supports the design of learning environments that foster sustained motivation and positive affective engagement in the learning experience. Drawing on decades of teaching simulation experience in the USA, the UK, and Austria, we provide a structured format and practical guidance for educators to support teaching simulation internationally. We address developments of generative Artificial Intelligence and provide guidance for responsible AI-supported learning. Our generic Customise-Build-Align (C-B-A) framework can be adopted and applied across different simulation courses and curricula. We discuss implications for educators, learners, the simulation community, as well as the framework’s relevance for advancing simulation research and practice. 2026-04-26T00:00:00Z http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/33181 Title: User information security behaviour in sub-Saharan Africa: A case of Ghana from an extended protection motivation perspective Authors: Baba, Abdul-Malik Abstract: Personal computer users are increasingly becoming the prime targets of cybercriminals. With the standing of the individual user as the “weakest link” in the information security chain, compounded by noncompliance with security protocols, and the assumption that they are solely responsible for their online safety, maintaining the protection of the information security of the individual computer user also known as personal computer security is thus a necessary part of overall information security. Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) has been extensively applied to explain how users behave regarding information security. Despite the above progress, several opportunities remain for enhancing our grasp of information security behaviour within the personal computing context. First and foremost, a primary gap seems to be the lack of studies concerning PMT, concerning how home computer and mobile device users approach information security behaviour. Whilst the current research acknowledges the contributions of studies that have explored this subject matter through the lens of PMT in various settings, there seems to be a lack of exploration in non-Western contexts where factors such as inadequate infrastructure, unconventional usage patterns, and IT identities prevalent in those regions. In addition, to the above, past PMT studies have also explored factors influencing user information security behaviour in this domain of research, however, the impact of perceived severity in shaping security intention is not yet fully understood. Additionally, the literature underscores the importance of investigating how factors such as security routines impacts security behaviour. In that regard, addressing these gaps in the literature is vital, as implementing security solutions designed in developed nations, without accounting for the local context, may prove to be ineffective. The present study seeks to explore how individuals in Ghana (a sub-Saharan country) protect their personal computers from information security breach based on the framework of PMT. By utilising a mixed method approach specifically an explanatory sequential mixed method design, 632 individual personal computer users consisting of home computer and mobile device users were investigated using surveys and focus groups. Collated quantitative data was meticulously analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) whilst NVivo was employed for the qualitative data analysis. The results demonstrate the crucial role of IT-identity in shaping an individual information security behavioural choice through threat and coping mechanisms of PMT, including security habit. Most of the threat and coping components of PMT significantly influence security intention. However, it was evident that there is no significant difference between home computer users and mobile device users regarding the determinants of their security behaviour. The overall sample attitudes towards information security were consistent across device types. Beyond the substantive findings, this study contributes theoretically to the academic discourse within circles on user information security behaviour research by introducing the concept of IT-identity as a factor that influences the cognitive processes of PMT, including the formation of security habits. It also adds to list of limited number of existing studies that have applied an explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach to this area of research (using a novel dataset) which has traditionally been explored through quantitative methods. Practically, it offers insights for various stakeholders across the sub-Saharan African region such as practitioners in the field and those responsible for designing security controls and training programs by recommending the implementation of a holistic IT-identity-PMT model. Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London 2025-01-01T00:00:00Z