Understanding Personalization for Health Behavior Change Applications: A Review and Future Directions

Health behavior change (HBC) applications hold much promise for promoting healthy lifestyles, such as enhancing physical activity (PA), diet, and sleep. Incorporating personalization strategies is seen as key to designing effective HBC applications. However, researchers and application designers lack knowledge about the different kinds of personalization strategies, how to implement them, and what strategies work. Thus, we reviewed prior empirical studies on personalization for HBC applications and developed a framework to synthesize the prior studies we identified and to provide an integrative view of the personalization strategies, their inputs, and outcomes. Our findings suggest that researchers have much potential to conduct design research that employs demographic and contextual characteristics for personalization and that examines personalization strategies that target HBC applications’ interface and channels. In terms of implementation and adoption, we call for researchers to examine unaddressed issues such as low adherence and contextual barriers for these applications. We also suggest that researchers need to systematically examine the effects of specific personalization strategies on their efficacy. Other than providing an integrative view of extant studies, our study contributes by outlining key directions for future research in this area

The appraisal of Facebook online community: An exposition of mobile commerce in social media reviews

Peer reviewe

The Relationship Between Community College Instructors’ Perception of Andragogical Orientation and Instructional Style.

Community colleges in Northern and Southeastern Virginia have struggled with enrollment and retention of adult learners. Addressing adult learners’ needs is an important focus for instructors, yet few studies have addressed how instructors can use andragogy, the art and science of adult learning, to influence their instructional practices to support adult learners. Based on self-determination theory, this quantitative, cross-sectional study examined the extent that 75 community college instructors’ perceived andragogical orientation predicted an autonomy-supportive instructional style controlling for instructor years of teaching, highest degree earned, and gender. Instructors from 10 community colleges in Northern and Southeastern Virginia teaching in the 2021-2022 academic year were asked to complete an online survey including the Principles of Adult Learning questionnaire and the Problems in Schools questionnaire to measure their self-reported andragogical orientation and autonomy-supportive instructional style, respectively. Results from a multiple hierarchical regression revealed that the constructs of andragogy: (a) Learner-Centered Activities, (b) Personalizing Instruction, (c) Relating to Experience, (d) Assessing Learner Needs, (e) Climate Building, (f) Participating in the Learning Process, and (g) Flexibility for Personal Development, predicted an instructional style that is more autonomy-supportive, particularly the assessing learner needs construct. Results of this study may contribute to positive social change by helping community college instructors make more informed decisions about course design to address the needs of adult learners

Information Management in Supply Chain Partnering: Improving Maintenance Processes in Dutch Housing Associations

From the article: "Abstract Maintenance processes of Dutch housing associations are often still organized in a traditional manner. Contracts are based on lowest price instead of ‘best quality for lowest price’ considering users’ demands. Dutch housing associations acknowledge the need to improve their maintenance processes in order to lower maintenance cost, but are not sure how. In this research, this problem is addressed by investigating different supply chain partnering principles and the role of information management. The main question is “How can the organisation of maintenance processes of Dutch housing associations, in different supply chain partnering principles and the related information management, be improved?” The answer is sought through case study research.

Journal of Applied Communications vol.98 (4) Full Issue

Journal of Applied Communications vol. 98 (4) - Full Issu

Behavior Change Apps for Gestational Diabetes Management : Exploring Desirable Features

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has considerable and increasing health effects as it raises both the mother’s and offspring’s risk for short- and long-term health problems. GDM can usually be treated with a healthier lifestyle, such as appropriate dietary modifications and engaging insufficient physical activity. While telemedicine interventions requiring weekly or more frequent feedback from health care professionals have shown the potential to improve glycemic control amongst women with GDM, apps without extensive input from health care professionals are limited and have not shown to be effective. We aimed to improve the efficacy of GDM self-management apps by exploring desirable features in a review. We derived six desirable features from the multidisciplinary literature and we evaluated the state of implementation of these features in existing GDM apps. The results showed that features for increasing competence to manage GDM and for providing social support were largely lacking.Peer reviewe

Digital Journeys: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Experiences Of Third- Grade Through Fifth-Grade General Education Teachers Implementing Instructional Technology In Northern California

The problem studied was the utilization of instructional technology in elementary classrooms, from third-grade through fifth-grade, and how teachers experience the use of technology in teaching methods and student learning. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to understand the experiences of third-grade through fifth-grade teachers regarding the implementation of instructional technology in their classrooms. The study\u27s timing captured teachers\u27 views on technology before, during, and after the 2020-2021 academic year, which was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning. Qualitative narrative inquiry allowed for a rich exploration of the teachers\u27 experiences, with results of the study informing future decisions and research related to instructional technology implementation in upper elementary settings. Purposeful sampling identified five participants meeting specific criteria. Virtual interviews provided detailed accounts of their encounters with instructional technology. The analysis involved restorying interview data, coding, and member-checking each narrative for accuracy. Four distinct themes emerged from this process: the evolutionary journey of technology integration, collaboration as a mode of professional learning, adaptability to change, and the personalization of learning experiences. The findings of this study underscore the necessity to empower teachers with ample time, resources, and collaborative platforms, enabling effective implementation of instructional technology that significantly enhances their teaching practice and fosters meaningful student learning outcomes