Annual Report Of Research and Creative Productions by Faculty and Staff from January to December, 2001.

Annual Report Of Research and Creative Productions by Faculty and Staff from January to December, 2001

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Empathy As A Moderator Of Adolescent Bullying Behavior And Moral Disengagement After Controlling For Social Desirability

The purpose of this study was to assess the moderating influence empathy has on the associations between adolescent bullying behavior and moral disengagement after controlling for social desirability (e.g., response bias). 676 students in 7th and 8th grade from a suburban middle school in Southeast Michigan participated in this study in the fall of 2012. Results showed male respondents were more likely than female respondents to (a) report engaging in all forms of traditional bullying behavior overall, including physical, verbal, and social bullying and (b) report higher rates of physical victimization and moral disengagement. Female respondents were more likely to (a) report social victimization than male respondents and (b) report higher rates of empathic responses. Eighth graders were more likely than 7th graders to (a) report engaging in all forms of traditional bullying behavior overall, including physical, verbal, and social bullying and (b) reported higher rates of moral disengagement; while 7th graders reported higher levels of social desirability than 8th graders. A main effect for ethnicity was established in reports of physical and cyber bullying, along with reports of empathy; however, ethnicity decreased in significance for both forms of bullying once they were added to the regression model, thereby no longer contributing to the model to a significant degree. Participants who responded in a socially desirable manner were significantly less likely to (a) report engaging in all forms of bullying and victimization and (b) report moral disengagement beliefs, in comparison to those reporting less socially desirable responses. Those who responded as high in moral disengagement were more likely to report participating in all forms of bullying, including verbal, social, physical and cyber bullying compared to those who scored lower on moral disengagement. Adolescents classified as both traditional and cyber bullies reported the highest levels of moral disengagement and those who reported participating in neither form of bullying had the lowest levels of moral disengagement. The effects of social desirability on moral disengagement and all methods of bullying behavior depend on the empathy group (low, medium, high) of participants. While the main effect of empathy was statistically significant regarding overall bullying, the moderating effect that it had on moral disengagement was even stronger; therefore, the relationship between empathy and moral disengagement is further moderated by social desirability. Aside from verbal bullying, empathy does have a contrasting influence on the direction of the relationships between moral disengagement and the remaining bullying variables (physical, social, and cyber). This means, as empathy increases, moral disengagement and involvement in bullying behavior decreases, and as empathy decreases, moral disengagement and involvement in bullying behavior increases. The potential roles these variables play in present and future cognitive and behavioral research is substantial

LMS DESIGN INTERVENTIONS FORENHANCING THE INTENTION TO CONTINUE USE

Learners, according to the literature, believe that the use of a Learning Management System increases self-regulated behaviour, but even so, a significant number of them have no positive intention to use one. The goal of this thesis is to investigate this mismatch and to propose and test the use of Perceived Learning Self-regulation and Perceived Cognitive Absorption as predictors of the intention to use an LMS and to design and test interventions that improve the Continued Intention to Use an LMS that enhances Perceived Learning Self-Regulation and Perceived Cognitive Absorption. Three intervention tools were designed on a theoretical basis and then implemented: herd behaviour was the basis for Tracking Technology, goal setting was the basis for Visualised Competency, and social learning theory was the basis for Social Media. The intervention designs were based on data from interviews, focus group discussions and online collaboration with 10 teachers. They were implemented on a computer science module with 400 registered students. Two questionnaires were circulated to examine the effects of these interventions on the PLSR, PCA and CIU (151 students) and assess their opinions (149 students). All three interventions increased students' perceived cognitive absorption and perceived learning self-regulation and increased their continued intention to use a learning management system. Moreover, perceived cognitive absorption was found to be a critical antecedent to perceived learning self-regulation, which plays a mediating role between perceived cognitive absorption and their continued intention to use a learning management system. The survey analysis reported a positive perception overall among the students of the proposed interventions and the LMS with the given technology. Interaction analysis showed the continuous and consistent use of the intervention by the learners. The main contribution to knowledge here is a new framework for interventions that can improve students perceived cognitive absorption and thereby their continued intention to use an LMS. This research integrated the theories of experience flow, self-regulation, herd behaviour and goal setting to explain the potential effects of tracking technology, visualised competency, and social media on the perceived learning self-regulation and perceived cognitive absorption, which improved the continued intention to use a learning management system. According to the Information System Success Model, positive attitudes and the perception of benefits can be significant predictors of the intention to use a certain technology. Thus, Perceived Learning Self-Regulation and Perceived Cognitive Absorption were used to propose predictors of students’ continued intention to use a learning management system, instead of their perception of and attitude to possible benefits. For this reason, the present research aimed to develop a framework that introduced, evaluated, and examined the impact of interventions on improving learners perceived cognitive absorption and perceived learning self-regulation as well as affecting learners’ continued intention to use in LMS. To fulfil this aim, the main research question was, “How to improve students’ Continued Intention to Use (CIU) an LMS by improving their perceived learning self-regulation and perceived cognitive absorption?” The results suggest that all interventions had a significant effect on the perceived cognitive absorption, perceived learning self-regulation and continue intention to use the LMS. perceived cognitive absorption was found to be a critical antecedent to the perceived learning self-regulation, which plays the mediating role between perceived cognitive absorption and continue intention to use LMS. The survey analysis also reported overall positive perceptions among students of the use of these interventions and the LMS with the technology. By using interaction analysis, the intervention showed continuous and consistent use among learners. The main contribution to knowledge, as noted above, is a new framework to propose interventions that can improve the perceived cognitive absorption, and in turn, the continue intention to use can be improved. This research integrated experience flow, self-regulation, herd behaviour and goal-setting theories to explain the potential effects of the tracking tool, visualised competency, and social media on the perceived learning self-regulation and perceived cognitive absorption, which improved the learners continue intention to use learning management system

The Resilience of Governance Networks: Wildlife Health Management in Canada

Emerging diseases in Canada threaten the wellbeing of humans, domestic and farmed animals, as well as wildlife. Canada, like many nations, struggles to manage diseases that cross boundaries, both geographically and in species. This has led to a heavy reliance on governance networks to coordinate the knowledge and resources needed to develop management approaches. As governance networks often exist in an informal or ad hoc capacity and at the same time attempt to solve complex or expansive policy problems beyond the ability of any one agency, the issue of network resilience is examined to explore how networks and their membership can mitigate network failure. Through two case studies of wildlife disease incidents in Canada (Chronic wasting disease and White nose syndrome), I examine how the wildlife health network in Canada developed its disease management approaches as well as recommendations to provincial and federal governments. Using primary sources, I evaluate the network’s activities, attitudes and behaviours to assess if characteristics associated with resilience (slack in resources, adaptive capacity and situation awareness) are present and if they contribute to positive outcomes. Greater presence of resilient characteristics- slack in resources, adaptive capacity and situation awareness-were present in the case with better policy outcomes, however, the analysis reveals that the concept of resilience is limited as a useful tool when examined in the broader context. Governance networks are often limited by the structural constraints of their environment, including scarce resources and a lack of self-determination. In this network, an additional factors exists to complicate analysis: disease type and severity. The relative ease with which an emerging disease can be understood and management appears to contribute significantly to the network’s success

Bullying embraces the virtual world : elucidating the psychosocial determinants and correlates of traditional vs. cyberbullying types

Rapid technological development has drastically changed the social landscape, redefining the ways youth stay connected and communicate with one another. New technologies provide a virtual platform where cyberbullying behaviours are able to thrive. Although international research has made considerable progress in advancing our understanding of traditional forms of bullying, much remains to be done to uncover the complexities of cyberbullying phenomena. This thesis aims to address the research gaps and methodological limitations associated with cyberbullying research by conducting a mixed methods investigation from an ecological framework, to provide a richer and a more complete understanding of bullying phenomena. A total quantitative sample of 625 students was recruited from two NSW secondary schools across grades 7 through 10. A qualitative subsample of 81 participants drawn from the same two schools included the students (n = 57), their parents (n = 10), educational staff and school counsellors (n = 14). Three interrelated studies were conducted to advance cyberbullying research: Study 1 developed a new, psychometrically sound instrument titled the Adolescent Cyber Bullying Instrument (ACBI), which is grounded in a strong theoretical framework and which measures cyberbullying behaviours across all potential perspectives. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tests of invariance revealed that the new continuous measure was valid and reliable. Study 2 used structural equation modelling (SEM) to uncover the effects of gender, grade, and school context on cyberbullying and traditional bullying behaviour, as well as to investigate the psychosocial correlates of involvement. The results revealed that students involved in any cyberbullying role (victim, bully, or bystander) were significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression, although to varying degrees. Generally speaking, cyber victims reported experiencing significantly lower perceptions of physical appearance and parental relations self-concept, whilst cyberbullies reported significantly poorer parental relations and verbal and mathematical (English and maths) self-concept. Interestingly, bystanders witnessing happy slapping behaviours (e.g., embarrassing situations that were set up, recorded and subsequently posted online) also reported significant experiences of depression. These results provide preliminary evidence suggesting that students involved in happy slapping incidents may also be at a greater risk of adverse mental health consequences. Lastly, Study 3 captured the perspectives of all school stakeholders involved (students, their parents, educators and school counsellors) by uncovering shared bullying experiences. Stakeholder interviews clarified definitions of different cyberbullying forms, why students engage in bullying perpetration, the impact bullying has on peers and families, reasons for the reluctance to disclose, the relation between traditional and cyber forms of bullying, and generated valuable practical suggestions to seed sustainable intervention/prevention programs addressing bullying. One of the most important findings showed that traditional forms of bullying and cyberbullying are positively correlated, suggesting that anti-bullying prevention programs need to target both forms of bullying, to effectively reduce all incidents, both offline and online. Preliminary results indicate that bullying begins in school hours and transfers across to online environments. This reveals that portable technology has provided bullying access to previously established safe havens such as the family home. Further implications of these findings for theory, research, and schools are discussed

Revisiting Reflection in HCI: Four Design Resources for Technologies that Support Reflection

Reflection is a commonly addressed design goal in commercial systems and in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research. Yet, it is still unclear what tools are at the disposal of designers who want to build systems that support reflection. Understanding the design space of reflection support systems and the interaction techniques that can foster reflection is necessary to enable building technologies that contribute to the users\u27 well-being. In order to gain additional insight into how interactive artefacts foster reflection, we investigated past research prototypes and reflection-supporting smartphone applications (apps). Through a structured literature review and an analysis of app reviews, we constructed four design resources for reflection: temporal perspective, conversation, comparison and discovery. We also identified design patterns in past digital artefacts that implement the resources. Our work constitutes intermediate-level knowledge that is intended to inspire future technologies that better support reflection