Considering Human Aspects on Strategies for Designing and Managing Distributed Human Computation

A human computation system can be viewed as a distributed system in which the processors are humans, called workers. Such systems harness the cognitive power of a group of workers connected to the Internet to execute relatively simple tasks, whose solutions, once grouped, solve a problem that systems equipped with only machines could not solve satisfactorily. Examples of such systems are Amazon Mechanical Turk and the Zooniverse platform. A human computation application comprises a group of tasks, each of them can be performed by one worker. Tasks might have dependencies among each other. In this study, we propose a theoretical framework to analyze such type of application from a distributed systems point of view. Our framework is established on three dimensions that represent different perspectives in which human computation applications can be approached: quality-of-service requirements, design and management strategies, and human aspects. By using this framework, we review human computation in the perspective of programmers seeking to improve the design of human computation applications and managers seeking to increase the effectiveness of human computation infrastructures in running such applications. In doing so, besides integrating and organizing what has been done in this direction, we also put into perspective the fact that the human aspects of the workers in such systems introduce new challenges in terms of, for example, task assignment, dependency management, and fault prevention and tolerance. We discuss how they are related to distributed systems and other areas of knowledge.Comment: 3 figures, 1 tabl

Company-university collaboration in applying gamification to learning about insurance

Incorporating gamification into training–learning at universities is hampered by a shortage of quality, adapted educational video games. Large companies are leading in the creation of educational video games for their internal training or to enhance their public image and universities can benefit from collaborating. The aim of this research is to evaluate, both objectively and subjectively, the potential of the simulation game BugaMAP (developed by the MAPFRE Foundation) for university teaching about insurance. To this end, we have assessed both the game itself and the experience of using the game as perceived by 142 economics students from various degree plans and courses at the University of Seville during the 2017–2018 academic year. As a methodology, a checklist of gamification components is used for the objective evaluation, and an opinion questionnaire on the game experience is used for the subjective evaluation. Among the results several findings stand out. One is the high satisfaction of the students with the knowledge acquired using fun and social interaction. Another is that the role of the university professors and the company monitors turns out to be very active and necessary during the game-learning sessions. Finally, in addition to the benefits to the university of occasionally available quality games to accelerate student skills training, the company–university collaboration serves as a trial and refinement of innovative tools for game-based learning

COOPERATIVE LEARNING USING TEAM GAME TOURNAMENT METHOD TO IMPROVE STUDENTS LEARNING PARTICIPATION AND COMPREHENSION

ABSTRACTThis study aims to know the best practice cooperative learning method, that suitable for economics and business mathematics course learning in Muhammadiyah Malang University. The specific goals of this study are: (1) Improving students of class 1-D in Management Department of Muhammadiyah Malang University’s learning participation in sequence and series subject matter using cooperative learning with Teams Games Tournament (TGT) method in the odd semester of 2017/2018, and also (2) Improving Improving students of class D in Management Department of Muhammadiyah Malang University's comprehension about sequence and series subject matter using cooperative learning with Teams Games Tournament (TGT) method in the odd semester of 2017/2018. The results of this study show that learning activities using Teams Games Tournament (TGT) method has been proven can improve student's learning participation and comprehension in sequence and series subject matter of economics and business mathematics course.Keywords: Cooperative learning, Team Games Tournament, Economics and Business Mathematic

Friendships and Favouritism on the Schoolground - A Framed Field Experiment

We present experimental evidence on favouritism practices. Children compete in teams in a tournament. After the first round of a real effort task, children indicate which group member they would prefer to do the task in the second round, for the benefit of the team. Friends are much more likely to be chosen than others after controlling for performance. We also find that children who are favoured by their friend subsequently increase performance. Consequently, favouritism does not hurt efficiency. These results show the importance of observing performance ex post in order to properly evaluate the efficiency implications of favouritism

Peer Effects in the Workplace: Evidence from Random Groupings in Professional Golf Tournaments

This paper uses the random assignment of playing partners in professional golf tournaments to test for peer effects in the workplace. We find no evidence that the ability of playing partners affects the performance of professional golfers, contrary to recent evidence on peer effects in the workplace from laboratory experiments, grocery scanners, and soft-fruit pickers. In our preferred specification, we can rule out peer effects larger than 0.045 strokes for a one stroke increase in playing partners' ability, and the point estimates are small and actually negative. We offer several explanations for our contrasting findings: that workers seek to avoid responding to social incentives when financial incentives are strong; that there is heterogeneity in how susceptible individuals are to social effects and that those who are able to avoid them are more likely to advance to elite professional labor markets; and that workers learn with professional experience not to be affected by social forces. We view our results as complementary to the existing studies of peer effects in the workplace and as a first step towards explaining how these social effects vary across labor markets, across individuals and with changes in the form of incentives faced. In addition to the empirical results on peer effects in the workplace, we also point out that many typical peer effects regressions are biased because individuals cannot be their own peers, and suggest a simple correction.

How group identification distorts beliefs

This paper investigates how group identification distorts people’s beliefs about the ability of their peers in social groups. We find that experimentally manipulated identification with a randomly composed group leads to overconfident beliefs about fellow group members’ performance on an intelligence test. This result cannot be explained by individual overconfidence, i.e., participants overconfident in their own skill believing that their group performed better because of them, as this was ruled out by experimental design. Moreover, we find that participants with stronger group identification put more weight on positive signals about their group when updating their beliefs. These in-group biases in beliefs can have important economic consequences when group membership is used to make inference about an individual’s characteristics as, for instance, in hiring decisions

COMPONENTS AFFECTING VOLUNTEER SATISFACTION WITHIN THE LADIES PROFESSIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION

Sport events are increasingly reliant on volunteers for the successful delivery of an event (Pauline, 2011). As the sport industry continues to grow so has the demands for volunteer operations. One must understand the points of satisfaction for volunteers as well as factors influencing their future intentions to volunteer. There has been substantial research on spectator satisfaction and motivation, but antecedents of volunteer satisfaction as well as intent to remain has been limited. Spectator satisfaction is described as, “expectations and perceptions about a service experience” (McDonald et al., 2018, p. 156). Spectator or fan satisfaction has been associated with numerous productive business outcomes and is certainly considered an important field of study. Golf is different from any other sport in that it has a flexible venue where the spectator experiences are unique (Marksbury, 2020). Fans have close proximity to the players, move freely throughout the course, and even serve as a volunteer to access crucial tournament operations. This research will observe the Brand Ambassador Program (volunteers) at the Cognizant LPGA Founders Cup to determine factors influencing tournament satisfaction. The purpose of this descriptive research is to identify factors influencing volunteer satisfaction to enhance the overall level of attendance/program involvement at the golf tournament. A survey was established for the Cognizant Founders Cup Brand Ambassador Program to identify the influences that tournament operations have on the level of satisfaction of volunteers. An independent t-test was designed to determine if there are differences in males and females based on factors of satisfaction. Also, a forward multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the significance of the factors of satisfaction. When conducted, it is hypothesized that these components will have a direct impact on volunteers’ level of satisfaction. In the end, this will support the assertion that professional golf events need to examine all these components. The findings can improve future volunteer programs and entice potential spectators’ perceptions increasing levels of satisfaction and attendance

Promotion Tournaments in Market Equilibrium

Standard models of promotion tournaments assume that firms can commit to arbitrary tournament prizes. In this paper, a firm's ability to adjust tournament prizes is constrained by the outside labor market, through the wages other firms are willing to offer to the promoted and unpromoted workers. The paper shows that sufficiently patient firms may be able to retain some control over the tournament prizes through a relational contract, but if the firms are competitive, full efficiency does not obtain in equilibrium even for discount factors arbitrarily close to one. Full efficiency, however, may be feasible in firms with supranormal profits (monopolistic firms). The paper also shows that a minimum wage regulation distorts the workers' investments in human capital by restricting the firms' abilities to design efficient promotion tournaments. A minimum wage thus leads to underinvestment in competitive firms, but could lead to excessive human capital accumulation in monopolistic firms.Promotion tournaments, Relational contracts

Overcoming Resistance to Diversity in the Executive Suite: Grease, Grit, and the Corporate Tournament

Once we open the corporate governance/human resources nexus to deeper inquiry, mutual scholarly interest in diversity and discrimination follows naturally. Firms have complex motives to take nondiscrimination and the promotion of diversity seriously. First, at least certain forms of discrimination are both unlawful and socially illegitimate and hence present threats of potential liability and injury to reputation. Second, human resources demands are such that attracting and motivating a diverse workforce is a competitive imperative. At the same time, however, offsetting economic forces may exist that favor subtle forms of discrimination and hostility to diversity, even if intentional and overt racial or gender-based bias is mostly outdated. In sum, the process of promoting diversity and ending discrimination, whether to avoid liability or simply to remain competitive, is a difficult challenge faced by many firms. It demands a close look at the efficacy of the internal decisionmaking and authority structures of the firm