The construction of valued skills and expertise within the IT profession: continuing tensions between techies and managers

The research investigates the expertise, skills and attributes of computer specialists. In particular, it focuses on managers' construction of certain attributes of computer professionals as valuable. In other words it asks "what makes a computer professional valuable?" Although this is of interest in itself, it is also a vehicle for investigating the computing occupation more widely. As the research deals with meaning and sense-making, context is all important. Consequently, the context within which the computing occupation and the skills within it are situated are a major theme throughout. This study consists of semi-structured interviews with IT managers and some user and personnel managers. The analysis of the interview data revealed two different organisational types: IT companies and IT departments. The managers within computer departments and companies constructed value differently and as career and employment environments these organisations appeared to offer different opportunities. [Continues.

A Q-methodology study of adult English language learners\u27 perceptions of audience response systems (clickers) as communication aides

This study explored the perceptions of adult English language learners about the use of audience response systems (clickers) to facilitate communication in a classroom environment. In the early stages of second language acquisition, learners\u27 receptive capabilities surpass expressive capabilities, often rendering them silent in their second language. Educational strategies and tools may be available to help English language learners communicate more effectively by enabling them to demonstrate their knowledge and express their opinions nonverbally. Many studies have been conducted with clickers, but none were found pertaining to adult English language learners. Second language acquisition theory provided the theoretical base for this research. In this Q-methodological study, adult English language learners enrolled in a computer skills course ranked statements about using clickers according to how closely they align with their personal perceptions. Factor analysis was performed to identify commonalities and patterns in perceptions. The findings support the view that second language acquisition theory influences how technology tools are perceived by English language learners. Adults with lower English language proficiency levels perceived the anonymity provided by clickers to be beneficial. Participants with beginning to intermediate levels of English proficiency perceived the clickers to be more valuable for communication than did those with lower levels of English proficiency. Results of this study may affect positive social change by leading to more effective instructional and assessment practices for adult English language learners and by fostering research into the viability of educational technology communication tools with all English language learners

Translation methods and experience : a comparative analysis of human translation and post-editing with students and professional translators

While the benefits of using post-editing for technical texts have been more or less acknowledged, it remains unclear whether post-editing is a viable alternative to human translation for more general text types. In addition, we need a better understanding of both translation methods and how they are performed by students as well as professionals, so that pitfalls can be determined and translator training can be adapted accordingly. In this article, we aim to get a better understanding of the differences between human translation and post-editing for newspaper articles. Processes were registered by means of eye tracking and keystroke logging, which allows us to study translation speed, cognitive load, and the usage of external resources. We also look at the final quality of the product as well as translators' attitude towards both methods of translation

Positive Psychology Progress in India: Accomplishments and Pathways Ahead

The aim of this study is to summarize the developments in the field of positive psychology in India by focusing on research and applications. Since the emergence of the positive psychology movement in the West in 1998, researchers worldwide including India have been influenced by its strength-based approach. Over time, positive psychology in India has garnered an empirical base. This paper attempts to trace the development of the field within India. Various databases such as PsycINFO, Science Direct, PubMed, EBSCO and Shodhganga were searched along with the gray literature according to a set of criteria. Relevant researches were categorized under study characteristics, variables studied and assessment of positive psychology variables. Findings show that well-being is the most widely studied topic in positive psychology in India. Other topics including character strengths and posttraumatic growth also seem to be gaining popularity. Future directions on investigating topics that have not received adequate attention, making efforts to bridge the gap between Indian psychology and positive psychology, addressing cultural issues in positive psychology research, focusing on interdisciplinary and multi-method approach and finally making positive psychology available to the non-scientific community, have been provided. It is hoped that these efforts will enable us to build a positive psychology community. On the basis of this analysis, it may be derived that psychology research in India has started focusing on prevention along with cure

(Im)Mobilizing Community College Youths' Digital Culture: Theorizing the Implications of Everyday Digital Practices, Perceptions, and Differences among Frederick Community College Youths

This study complicates American youths' digital culture by analyzing the digital practices, perceptions, and experiences of students, ages 18 to 24, attending Frederick Community College in Frederick, Maryland, through an interdisciplinary lens that infuses intersectional theory with Bourdieu's triad of habitus, field, and capital. Mixed methods research combining data from the FCC Digital Practices Survey and focus group interviews indicated that community college youths engaged in a spectrum of practices to socialize and communicate, engage in entertainment and creative practices, and manage everyday life, information, school, and work. Community college youths actively participated in digital culture through social networking, listening to music, watching television, playing videogames, and engaging with other technology. Not only did they feel pressured to adapt digitally, they also intentionally disengaged from technology, managed their lives using digital tools, resolved communication conflicts, monitored their online identities and privacy, developed various forms of digital expertise, and observed the impacts of adults' struggles with technology at home and in the classroom. Data patterns, including differences between males and females, and among youths with different racial and ethnic identities, revealed contradictions among their everyday digital practices, their confidence with performing these practices, and their perceptions of practices' importance in college and in their future everyday lives and work. This study theorizes the impacts of these contradictions, proposing that as youths encounter shifts in the symbolic value of digital practices between their everyday digital culture and the field of education, they experience what Clarke et al. (2009) termed "digital dissonance," conflicts between their everyday digital practices and their digital engagement in education. Impacts of digital dissonance, which range from resolution and circumnavigation, to digital stagnation and immobilization, affect the uneven positions youths take up within the field of community college education and potentially result in the unintended reproduction of social inequity. To disrupt the reproduction of inequity, this study considers the material consequences of digital immobilization for community college youths and advocates for intentional reform and research that mobilizes their digital practices

Stop whining, start doing! Identity conflict in project managed software environments

In this article we explore the relationship between software developers and IT project managers as expressed through narrative exchanges in an on-line discussion forum. We interrogate a naturalistic data set to show how the conflict between IT professionals and their immediate managers (project managers) is manifest through the identity work that they engage in. To this end, the article draws attention to strategies of resistance and dissent expressed in the narratives of software developers, contrasting these with the performative expectations espoused by project managers. The purpose is to contribute to a critique of project management stemming from the grassroots experience of those involved in its co-construction. While it is difficult to be precise about the demographics of the community studied (given the anonymity of bulletin board forums), the views of several hundred participants are represented in the discussion threads analysed. In response to the performative environments and disciplines of project management, programmers make recourse to performative strategies (in an Austinian sense) that preserve their status, sense of professional identity and organizational power. The aesthetics of programming appear to play an important part in the expression of programmers’ identity; aesthetics which contrast, and are in conflict with, different forms of performative aesthetics present in the identity work of project managers

Forces of Change: Silicon Valley\u27s Developing Relationship with American Government

Silicon Valley has increased its political engagement over the past decade, and is becoming an increasingly powerful force in government. It defies traditional affiliation labels, and behaves differently than other industries. It embodies a blend of altruism and self-interest, which guides its interactions with government and its intentions in affecting policy changes. In order to better understand Silicon Valley\u27s political life, this thesis outlines a brief history of its development, and then delves into three policy issues: education reform, immigration reform and encryption and security. This focus allows for an up-close, detailed look at the multi-faceted relationship between Silicon Valley and the government

Exploring the effectiveness of ChatGPT-based feedback compared with teacher feedback and self-feedback: Evidence from Chinese to English translation

ChatGPT,a cutting-edge AI-powered Chatbot,can quickly generate responses on given commands. While it was reported that ChatGPT had the capacity to deliver useful feedback, it is still unclear about its effectiveness compared with conventional feedback approaches,such as teacher feedback (TF) and self-feedback (SF). To address this issue, this study compared the revised Chinese to English translation texts produced by Chinese Master of Translation and Interpretation (MTI) students,who learned English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL/EFL), based on three feedback types (i.e., ChatGPT-based feedback, TF and SF). The data was analyzed using BLEU score to gauge the overall translation quality as well as Coh-Metrix to examine linguistic features across three dimensions: lexicon, syntax, and cohesion.The findings revealed that TF- and SF-guided translation texts surpassed those with ChatGPT-based feedback, as indicated by the BLEU score. In terms of linguistic features,ChatGPT-based feedback demonstrated superiority, particularly in enhancing lexical capability and referential cohesion in the translation texts. However, TF and SF proved more effective in developing syntax-related skills,as it addressed instances of incorrect usage of the passive voice. These diverse outcomes indicate ChatGPT's potential as a supplementary resource, complementing traditional teacher-led methods in translation practice