4,590 research outputs found

    UMSL Bulletin 2023-2024

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    The 2023-2024 Bulletin and Course Catalog for the University of Missouri St. Louis.https://irl.umsl.edu/bulletin/1088/thumbnail.jp

    Facilitating prosociality through technology: Design to promote digital volunteerism

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    Volunteerism covers many activities involving no financial rewards for volunteers but which contribute to the common good. There is existing work in designing technology for volunteerism in HumanComputer Interaction (HCI) and related disciplines that focuses on motivation to improve performance, but it does not account for volunteer wellbeing. Here, I investigate digital volunteerism in three case studies with a focus on volunteer motivation, engagement, and wellbeing. My research involved volunteers and others in the volunteering context to generate recommendations for a volunteer-centric design for digital volunteerism. The thesis has three aims: 1. To investigate motivational aspects critical for enhancing digital volunteers’ experiences 2. To identify digital platform attributes linked to volunteer wellbeing 3. To create guidelines for effectively supporting volunteer engagement in digital volunteering platforms In the first case study I investigate the design of a chat widget for volunteers working in an organisation with a view to develop a design that improves their workflow and wellbeing. The second case study investigates the needs, motivations, and wellbeing of volunteers who help medical students improve their medical communication skills. An initial mixed-methods study was followed by an experiment comparing two design strategies to improve volunteer relatedness; an important indicator of wellbeing. The third case study looks into volunteer needs, experiences, motivations, and wellbeing with a focus on volunteer identity and meaning-making on a science-based research platform. I then analyse my findings from these case studies using the lens of care ethics to derive critical insights for design. The key contributions of this thesis are design strategies and critical insights, and a volunteer-centric design framework to enhance the motivation, wellbeing and engagement of digital volunteers

    Science and Innovations for Food Systems Transformation

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    This Open Access book compiles the findings of the Scientific Group of the United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 and its research partners. The Scientific Group was an independent group of 28 food systems scientists from all over the world with a mandate from the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. The chapters provide science- and research-based, state-of-the-art, solution-oriented knowledge and evidence to inform the transformation of contemporary food systems in order to achieve more sustainable, equitable and resilient systems

    Temporal global trends of human population and dependency on coral reefs

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    Research on human populations and dependency on coral reefs is relatively sparse, and often uses recycled statistics that have not been updated for many years. In light of climate change on coral reefs, its vital that continual assessments not only on coral reef ecosystems, but additionally the communities that rely on them is maintained in order to inform climate resilience. I aimed to 1) update statistics and create a long-term dataset of human populations near coral reefs, and 2) develop a human dependency framework that is reproducible and adaptable to newly available data. Using openly accessible data, of LandScan and global coral reef distribution map, I found that nearly 1 billon people live within 100 km of coral reefs in 2020. I developed a conceptual human dependency framework, which encompassed four pre-defined dependency categories, of fisheries, tourism, coastal protection and nutrition. Using an indicator approach, openly accessible data was collected for each category. The Human dependency on coral reef index (HDCRI) was developed and calculated, and were complemented by hybrid learning techniques. Human dependency “profiles” were created, and presented, how countries were dependent on coral reef ecosystems and what indicators were driving the dependency. The conceptual framework, aimed to shift thinking of human dependency on a linear scale from low to high dependency, towards a more holistic view on human dependency. The human dependency framework and population methods, were designed to be reproducible and adaptable to different scales of data (e.g. regional and national levels), and updated with improved datasets. The outputs of these studies are aimed to improve coral science by facilitating human aspects to research, additionally, to create more informed decision making to policymakers in distributing funds and resources. Finally, to facilitate a novel tool of insurance as a form of climate resilience, for coral reefs and the humans that depend on them

    Natural Toxins: Environmental Fate and Safe Water Supply

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    Plants, bacteria, cyanobacteria, algae and other organisms produce a vast diversity of bioactive and toxic natural compounds. We know that many of these toxins are mobile and can be produced in high amounts close to or within drinking water reservoirs. Natural toxins represent emerging classes of environmental contaminants for which we have very limited insight on occurrence, fate and effects. The konference “Natural toxins: Environmental Fate and Safe Water Supply” addresses knowledge gaps within the field of natural toxins, target, non-target, suspect and effect-directed analysis, distribution, fate, toxicity and management of natural toxins in aquatic environments and drinking water reservoirs. These proceedings are a collection of the abstracts to contributions presented at the conference

    2023-2024 academic bulletin & course catalog

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    University of South Carolina Aiken publishes a catalog with information about the university, student life, undergraduate and graduate academic programs, and faculty and staff listings

    Immersive Horizons: Exploring the Transformative Power of Virtual Reality Across Economic Sectors

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    open access articleThe scholarly discourse surrounding the manifold advantages, applications, and limitations of implementing Virtual Reality (VR) in the contemporary milieu has burgeoned over time. VR holds immense potential, attracting fervent interest from governmental and private entities alike. Nevertheless, the existing body of literature pertaining to the expanding utilization of VR in diverse economic sectors remains scant. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to furnish a comprehensive literature review encompassing VR applications across various economic domains while elucidating concerns surrounding its integration within engineering education. A total of 108 publications were extracted from prominent databases such as Scopus, Elsevier, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, with a subsequent review of 51 relevant works. These scrutinized journals were published between 2015 and 2022 and were predominantly authored in English. The reviewed publications encompassed VR applications in education, robotics, healthcare, transportation, sports, agriculture, governance, security, and media. The study’s findings unveiled significant advancements in VR implementation within engineering education, medical training, cognitive augmentation, aircraft assembly, governance, and diverse other spheres. Notwithstanding these achievements, impediments to VR deployment were identified, stemming from financial exigencies, cultural and conventional norms, with scant evidence of VR’s prevalence in underdeveloped nations, given that all the assessed research originated from developed economies. Additionally, the limitations of this review encompassed a small sample size and a narrowly focused demographic in the examined articles. Nevertheless, despite these constraints, the research highlights substantial progress in VR utilization over the preceding decade

    Strategies Organizational Leaders Use to Engage Employees

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    For many organizations, employee engagement is a major component that drives a business’s productivity, performance, and profitability. Some healthcare leaders lack strategies to engage employees. Grounded in Kahn’s employee engagement theory, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies healthcare leaders use to engage employees. The participants were eight healthcare leaders in a greater Atlanta, Georgia, healthcare facility who successfully implemented strategies to engage employees. Data were collected from Press Ganey quarterly engagement scores and semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using Yin’s five-phase process, from which three themes emerged: (a) mentorship, (b) leadership, and (c) teamwork. A key recommendation is for leaders to implement mentorship programs to promote employees and career growth. The implications for positive social change could include providing more quality healthcare through engaged employees resulting in satisfied patients and profitable organizations

    A systematic review of volcanology learning and teaching in higher education

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    We present a systematic map of the volcanology higher education literature (1983–2020) consisting of 47 peer-reviewed full texts. The literature describes curricula in varied formats and settings, namely: simulated, in-person, and field-based learning. The phenomena that students are learning about commonly include volcanic processes and landforms, applicable to learning within various geoscience subdisciplines. Frequently published research includes volcano misconceptions and simulated eruptions. However, most texts focus on practitioner wisdom and lack research information, empirical evidence, and/or a research-oriented methodology. A lack of research orientation is a documented phenomenon within the broader field of geoscience education, which is young compared to other discipline-based education research fields. Based on our findings, we recommend future research in conceptual learning of volcanology, instructional strategies, volcanology and society interactions, volcanology education equity and inclusion, volcanology cognition, quantitative learning, affective learning, and institutional change in volcanology

    Data journeys in the sciences

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    This is the final version. Available from Springer via the DOI in this record. This groundbreaking, open access volume analyses and compares data practices across several fields through the analysis of specific cases of data journeys. It brings together leading scholars in the philosophy, history and social studies of science to achieve two goals: tracking the travel of data across different spaces, times and domains of research practice; and documenting how such journeys affect the use of data as evidence and the knowledge being produced. The volume captures the opportunities, challenges and concerns involved in making data move from the sites in which they are originally produced to sites where they can be integrated with other data, analysed and re-used for a variety of purposes. The in-depth study of data journeys provides the necessary ground to examine disciplinary, geographical and historical differences and similarities in data management, processing and interpretation, thus identifying the key conditions of possibility for the widespread data sharing associated with Big and Open Data. The chapters are ordered in sections that broadly correspond to different stages of the journeys of data, from their generation to the legitimisation of their use for specific purposes. Additionally, the preface to the volume provides a variety of alternative “roadmaps” aimed to serve the different interests and entry points of readers; and the introduction provides a substantive overview of what data journeys can teach about the methods and epistemology of research.European CommissionAustralian Research CouncilAlan Turing Institut
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