1,761 research outputs found
Understanding The Role of a Regional Magnet School in Creative Identity Development of Ethnically and Culturally Diverse Adolescents: A Case Study
The purpose of this dissertation exploratory case study was to examine the creativity-supportive practices at an innovative regional magnet school shaping Ethnically & Culturally Diverse (ECD) studentsâ creative identity development as perceived by different stakeholders including ECD students enrolled in the first three cohorts, teachers, and school administrators of RichTech Regional Magnet High School [RRMHS] (pseudonym). This single qualitative case study employed a small component of a quantitative survey, the results of which guided in part the design of interview protocols and sampling procedures for recruiting qualitative participants. Using a pragmatic research lens, I obtained and analyzed the diverse qualitative data including interviews with ECD students, teachers, and school administrators, open-ended qualitative survey responses, my field notes, and reflective memos. The findings of this dissertation study demonstrated that the creative identity development of ECD students can be supported in the context of an innovative regional magnet high school in three ways: (a) through facilitation of creative learning opportunities encompassing open-endedness and flexibility, non-linear synergy, student-centered future orientation as well as productive interactions of diverse perspectives; (b) through augmenting unique strengths of an innovative regional magnet school entailing limited size of student enrollment, intentional design of integrated diverse learning environment, as well as formulation of an innovative curricular and pedagogical model; and (c) through the promotion of teacher autonomy, the sustainable rapport between teachers and school administrators, development of sound beliefs by teachers and school administrators about student creativity as well as through leveraging teachersâ prior practical experiences of teaching ECD adolescent students. These key findings, recommendations, and implications for practice and future research are discussed in light of the limitations of the present study. With the limited research on the role of unique learning environments such as an innovative magnet school in promoting ECD adolescents\u27 creativity, this study is a small first attempt to better understand the magnet school-based salient opportunities for and experiences of ECD studentsâ creative identity development
Image-based Decision Support Systems: Technical Concepts, Design Knowledge, and Applications for Sustainability
Unstructured data accounts for 80-90% of all data generated, with image data contributing its largest portion. In recent years, the field of computer vision, fueled by deep learning techniques, has made significant advances in exploiting this data to generate value. However, often computer vision models are not sufficient for value creation. In these cases, image-based decision support systems (IB-DSSs), i.e., decision support systems that rely on images and computer vision, can be used to create value by combining human and artificial intelligence. Despite its potential, there is only little work on IB-DSSs so far.
In this thesis, we develop technical foundations and design knowledge for IBDSSs and demonstrate the possible positive effect of IB-DSSs on environmental sustainability. The theoretical contributions of this work are based on and evaluated in a series of artifacts in practical use cases: First, we use technical experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of innovative approaches to exploit images for IBDSSs.
We show the feasibility of deep-learning-based computer vision and identify future research opportunities based on one of our practical use cases. Building on this, we develop and evaluate a novel approach for combining human and artificial intelligence for value creation from image data. Second, we develop design knowledge that can serve as a blueprint for future IB-DSSs. We perform two design science research studies to formulate generalizable principles for purposeful design â one for IB-DSSs and one for the subclass of image-mining-based decision support systems (IM-DSSs). While IB-DSSs can provide decision support based on single images, IM-DSSs are suitable when large amounts of image data are available and required for decision-making. Third, we demonstrate the viability of applying IBDSSs to enhance environmental sustainability by performing life cycle assessments for two practical use cases â one in which the IB-DSS enables a prolonged product lifetime and one in which the IB-DSS facilitates an improvement of manufacturing processes.
We hope this thesis will contribute to expand the use and effectiveness of imagebased decision support systems in practice and will provide directions for future research
Carousel Comic Trend As Expression Means In Instagram Social Media Space
The design of social media content cannot be separated from the
existence of trends and can be used as a forum for the owner's
expression in responding to the existing social phenomena of society.
The comic carousel trend in social media content is supported by the
presence of features brought by social media that are used by content
creators as a space to work through content pages that line up to
several pages on their Instagram accounts. Comics are one of the media
in conveying information through visual sequences. This media can
become public attention as a form of visually sequential stories so that
there are activities, images, and systematics that can explain a story in
the form of a guide or visual structure. In the development of the
industry, the existence of comics also adapts to new media for
expression, in the form of comic content applications on Instagram
Social Media that implements the Carousel feature. This is seen by
researchers as a step used by comic makers in distributing their work,
by following existing trends, in order to get the enthusiasm of the
audience or readers through new media, namely digital media. This
study uses a descriptive qualitative method, where the theory of layout
& new media is used as literature as well as an analytical knife during
the process of observation and research data collection. The urgency in
this research lies in the use of carousel design content as a visual space
in the work and the phenomenon of the existence of features on social
media that continues to grow, along with smartphone users who continue to increase. The results of this study will later examine the
comic carouselâs uniqueness in telling stories through Instagram Social
Media Content, which can add knowledge about the application of
new media in visual communication design studies
Data-Driven Evaluation of In-Vehicle Information Systems
Todayâs In-Vehicle Information Systems (IVISs) are featurerich systems that provide the driver with numerous options for entertainment, information, comfort, and communication. Drivers can stream their favorite songs, read reviews of nearby restaurants, or change the ambient lighting to their liking. To do so, they interact with large center stack touchscreens that have become the main interface between the driver and IVISs. To interact with these systems, drivers must take their eyes off the road which can impair their driving performance. This makes IVIS evaluation critical not only to meet customer needs but also to ensure road safety. The growing number of features, the distraction caused by large touchscreens, and the impact of driving automation on driver behavior pose significant challenges for the design and evaluation of IVISs. Traditionally, IVISs are evaluated qualitatively or through small-scale user studies using driving simulators. However, these methods are not scalable to the growing number of features and the variety of driving scenarios that influence driver interaction behavior. We argue that data-driven methods can be a viable solution to these challenges and can assist automotive User Experience (UX) experts in evaluating IVISs. Therefore, we need to understand how data-driven methods can facilitate the design and evaluation of IVISs, how large amounts of usage data need to be visualized, and how drivers allocate their visual attention when interacting with center stack touchscreens.
In Part I, we present the results of two empirical studies and create a comprehensive understanding of the role that data-driven methods currently play in the automotive UX design process. We found that automotive UX experts face two main conflicts: First, results from qualitative or small-scale empirical studies are often not valued in the decision-making process. Second, UX experts often do not have access to customer data and lack the means and tools to analyze it appropriately. As a result, design decisions are often not user-centered and are based on subjective judgments rather than evidence-based customer insights. Our results show that automotive UX experts need data-driven methods that leverage large amounts of telematics data collected from customer vehicles. They need tools to help them visualize and analyze customer usage data and computational methods to automatically evaluate IVIS designs.
In Part II, we present ICEBOAT, an interactive user behavior analysis tool for automotive user interfaces. ICEBOAT processes interaction data, driving data, and glance data, collected over-the-air from customer vehicles and visualizes it on different levels of granularity. Leveraging our multi-level user behavior analysis framework, it enables UX experts to effectively and efficiently evaluate driver interactions with touchscreen-based IVISs concerning performance and safety-related metrics.
In Part III, we investigate driversâ multitasking behavior and visual attention allocation when interacting with center stack touchscreens while driving. We present the first naturalistic driving study to assess driversâ tactical and operational self-regulation with center stack touchscreens. Our results show significant differences in driversâ interaction and glance behavior in response to different levels of driving automation, vehicle speed, and road curvature. During automated driving, drivers perform more interactions per touchscreen sequence and increase the time spent looking at the center stack touchscreen. These results emphasize the importance of context-dependent driver distraction assessment of driver interactions with IVISs. Motivated by this we present a machine learning-based approach to predict and explain the visual demand of in-vehicle touchscreen interactions based on customer data. By predicting the visual demand of yet unseen touchscreen interactions, our method lays the foundation for automated data-driven evaluation of early-stage IVIS prototypes. The local and global explanations provide additional insights into how design artifacts and driving context affect driversâ glance behavior.
Overall, this thesis identifies current shortcomings in the evaluation of IVISs and proposes novel solutions based on visual analytics and statistical and computational modeling that generate insights into driver interaction behavior and assist UX experts in making user-centered design decisions
Exploring levers for agility and their inter-relations in the German energy industry via neo-configurational theory
Organisational agility describes firmsâ ability to proactively and reactively handle external changes like the COVID and Ukraine crises. This thesis researches how levers
like culture (in this thesis = mindset) or strategy impact agility. Existing research shows
agilityâs outcome but neglects its origin and its leversâ interactions. Since mindsets guide
employees and leaders, research was requested for how organisational culture influences
other leversâ effects. Therefore, this thesis developed a literature-based framework of
levers, tailored it to the studied context, proposing that strategy, technology, linkages, and
structures, filtered through employeesâ and leadersâ mindsets, interact to lead to agility.
Neo-configurational theory (NCT) provided the theoretical underpinning for lever inter-relations, basing this research in wider organisational theory. As critical realist work, the
thesis recognised agilityâs context-specificity and examined the recently turbulent German
energy industry as exemplary context. 36 semi-structured interviews in 15 purposefully
sampled companies were analysed in three steps: All data were thematically analysed.
Fuzzy-values were derived using the Generic Membership Evaluation Template (GMET).
The concluding fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) determined pathways to agility and non-agility, leversâ interdependencies, and mindsetâs role.
The results show that agility presupposes an implemented agile strategy (i.e. strategy
filtering agility) but not necessarily a very agile culture, while non-agility comes with
a very non-agile employee mindset (i.e. culture filtering non-agility). Three strategy-dependent paths to agility exist for energy companies: one builds on internal and external linkages, one on lacking technological capabilities with improvement spirit, and one
couples agile employee mindsets with decentralised structures. Three employee mindset-dependent paths describe non-agility: one builds on lacking linkages and supportive leadership, one on lacking technological capabilities, supportive leadership and strategy, and
one on lacking technology capabilities reflecting in inadequate structures. This thesisâ
major methodological contributions are refining the GMET as new tool to transform qualitative data into fuzzy-values and further establishing fsQCA in management research.
Academics gain a sound theoretical basis for agility in form of NCT and practitioners
and academics a view on agility leversâ role, especially on culture and strategy. Utilitiesâ
managers can use this to prioritise levers facing sudden changes
Italian higher education studentsâ perspectives on internationalization at home and their identity as English as lingua franca users
This study aims to explore the Italian studentsâ perspectives on using English in English-medium instruction (EMI) programs in light of the practices of internationalization at home (IaH) at the University of Bologna (UNIBO) in Italy and further investigates whether these attitudes affect their language identity as English as lingua franca (ELF) users. To serve this aim, a mixed-method approach was adopted to collect quantitative and in-depth qualitative data in two phases through an online survey and a semi-structured interview. A total number of 78 Italian students participated in the survey, out of which 14 participants were interviewed. The findings of the online survey indicated that most participants (92%) held a positive perspective toward the use of English in EMI programs and the findings from the interviews were in line with the results of the survey. However, the purpose of the interviews was to explore the participantsâ views on their language identity as ELF users. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that students experience emotional, cognitive, and social transitions in EMI programs in response to their shift from a non-EMI to an EMI academic setting. Overall, all the above-mentioned transitions were positive and could lead to personal development. However, it can be concluded that the EMI context provides few opportunities for the emergence of significant new subject positions mediated by English in this study. The focus on studentsâ perspectives on the use of English in EMI programs can contribute to the improvement in language policy planning and internationalized curriculum design by policymakers and alleviate tensions over the controversial issue of the Englishization of higher education by considering how EMI students perceive their use of English as ELF users not superior standard English users
How Middle School Students Describe and Explain Their Elementary Science Experiences
The purpose of this study was to elicit students\u27 voices to examine elementary science experiences to better understand foundational learning. The grounding philosophy and framework of phenomenology guided this work as I sought to capture the lived elementary science experiences of students. I administered a handwritten science autobiography to 52 middle school students at a private middle school in a suburban southwestern community. Utilizing a hermeneutic analytic approach, I learned that middle school students describe and explain elementary science experiences in many interesting ways. For example, students shared a preference for participating in hands-on, active, or engaged learning experiences over more passive forms of learning science. Students wrote favorably and in-depth about doing dissections during each elementary grade. Another important finding was the role of the teacher in the elementary science classroom. Teachers may positively or negatively influence science experiences for students. Some of the important implications for this work include social and emotional aspects of teaching and learning. Teachers can learn how instructional practices and classroom relationships influence a studentâs science experience. Student benefit by personally reflecting on prior learning experiences and become empowered when they share their voices in science classrooms. School decision makers can benefit when they have robust measures of academic outcomes that include qualitative information that includes the students\u27 perspective and tells a more complete story. And finally, the research community can benefit from new research that supports and extends studies of lived elementary science experiences using the science autobiography as a tool for eliciting student voice
High potential employee learning agility: individual differences, learning climate and the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) function
This study investigates the construct of learning agility, i.e., âoneâs engagement in learning behaviours to enhance the capacity to reconfigure activities quickly to meet the changing demands in the task environmentâ (Burke, 2018, p. 12). Firstly coined by Eichinger and Lombardo (2000), learning agility is positively related to employeesâ performance during changing organisational contexts (Bedford, 2011), the potential for advancement (Miklos et al., 2013), being identified as high potential (Dries et al., 2012) as well as to leadership success (De Meuse, 2017). As a relatively new construct, the practitionerâs interest in learning agility has been growing rapidly in the last decade beyond robust empirical substantiation (De Meuse, 2015). While the organisational implications of learning agility have been looked at in current research, our understanding of âwhoâ demonstrates learning agility and âhowâ individual differences interact with the environment is still relatively scarce (De Meuse, 2019).
With the question of âwhat are the dispositional and contextual correlates of high potential employee learning agility in the workplace?â as the primary research question; this study aims to address both the âinternalâ predisposing factors (i.e., personality, motivation) contributing to oneâs learning agility as well as the âexternalâ contextual factors, specifically in the context of high potential employee population. Past research explored those individual differences in isolation; however, less attention has been directed to understanding the organisational climates which might support or impede learning agility (Harvey and De Meuse, 2021). This study examines the motivational climates as the boundary condition within which the impact of those individual differences on learning agility is strengthened or weakened (DeRue et al., 2012). Responding to the call for empirical research on the organisationâs role in developing learning agility (Harvey and De Meuse, 2021), this study would also focus on how the HRM function may âorchestrateâ and synergise its practices to establish supportive organisational climates (MarinGracia and Tomas, 2016; Trullen et al., 2016; Milani et al., 2021).
The results show that both personality and motivational traits are associated with learning agility in different valence. An examination of the interaction effects shows that the mastery climate facilitated learning agility due to Honesty-Humility, and Emotionality traits, while the performance climate facilitated learning agility due to Agreeableness trait. Further discussions using the lens of social adroitness in the context of high potential employees identification in the workplace (Lee and Ashton, 2007; 2005; Markey and Markey, 2006) are presented. From the perspective of the HRM, this study also clarifies the crucial role that the HRM function plays in establishing conducive organisational climates; as well as its relevant practices. In order to achieve a congruent perception of all organisational constituents, the organisational alignment between the senior management team, the HRM function and the employees, is deemed to be critical. Following the âhow,â the âwhichâ question of HR practices contributing to such climates was also explored. The practices deemed to contribute to the HRM functionsâ system strength (Bowen and Ostroff, 2004) are âcriterion-basedâ person-organisation fit, âdemocratisationâ of knowledge, and low-status differentials HR practices.
Intended for both academics and practitioners alike, the value of this study is two-fold. It contributes to the learning agility body of knowledge by investigating the underlying factors within the nexus of high potential management practice and organisational climate. It expands the current nomological network of learning agility (Harvey and De Meuse, 2021) by considering the importance of the intricate context surrounding the behaviour as well as the organisational role and practices that âshapeâ such context. From a practitionerâs point of view, this study clarifies what and how the organisationâs HRM function could do to promote learning agility in their organisations (Milani et al., 2021). The study found that a conducive learning climate could be established through HRM functionâs (1) person-organisation fit practices, (2) 'democratisation' of knowledge practices and (3) low status differential practices. In implementing those practices; the alignments (1) between HRM function and the senior management team, (2) between HRM subfunctions and (3) between HRM function and the employees, were deemed important to take place in order to achieve employeesâ unified perception and understanding of the learning agility behavioural expectations
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