Student Attitudes Towards Distance Education: A Comparison of Views in Australia and the US

There have been frequent and repeated calls for empirical studies examining distance learning. This paper presents the results of a study that compares US and Australian post-graduate students involved in similar courses. It finds marked differences in perceptions between those involved in distance education and those studying by more traditional means. Differences between the two nationalities are also noted. The paper calls for further work in this area and invites a series of collaborative studies

MAKING THE MOVE TO ADMINISTRATION

This panel explores the transitions of IS faculty members to administrative roles. Moving to such roles is not risk free and frequently means adapting to a new set of expectations and a work-life that is different from that of a faculty member. Experienced university administrators will share their motivations and experiences in making move to administration and will help attendees considering moving to administration about the pros and cons of administrative life

On-line Distance Education--Many Are Called, Should All Be Chosen?

Work was published in Journal of Informatics Education Researc

Attitudes Towards Computer In An Information-Intense Environment: A Field Study Of The Insurance Industry

The topic of human attitudes about computers has been dealt with extensively in both the academic and popular literature, but it remains an issue of importance.  The continued relevance was well illustrated by the Soviet chess grandmaster, Karpov, who recently remarked that he was not afraid to lose a chess game to a computer, but that people who worked with such computers could lose their soul to the machines (Hooper, 1990).  The beliefs which people hold toward computers will affect their computer interaction and their willingness to adapt to automated systems:  therefore the issue is of great practical importance.  This paper reports on a replication of an early IBM study with the intent of assessing contemporary attitudes towards computers and the changes in attitudes over the last 25 years

Decision Support Package in a Business Game: Performance and Attitudinal Effects

Work was published in Simulation and Game

Causes of mortality and morbidity in free-ranging mustelids in Switzerland: necropsy data from over 50 years of general health surveillance.

BACKGROUND Although mustelids occur worldwide and include a wide range of species, little is known about the diseases affecting them. Mustelids have regularly been submitted for post mortem investigation in the framework of the program for general wildlife health surveillance in Switzerland, which has been in place for nearly 60 years. We performed a retrospective analysis of the necropsy reports on mustelids submitted to the diagnostic service of the University of Bern. The aims of this study were to present an overview of the causes of mortality and morbidity observed in these carnivores, to assess differences among species, to assess changes in disease detection over the study period, and to describe the pathology of selected diseases. RESULTS Five hundred and sixty-six reports from 1958 to 2015 were analyzed. Most animals were stone martens (Martes foina, 46%) and badgers (Meles meles, 44%); the remaining species were polecats (Mustela putorius, 4.7%), pine martens (Martes martes, 2%), stoats (Mustela erminea, 1.4%), weasels (Mustela nivalis, 0.8%) and otters (Lutra lutra, 0.3%). Infectious diseases (n = 262) were frequent and were mostly bacterial or viral; non-infectious conditions (n = 169) were less common and were mostly traumatic or due to metabolic disorders. The most frequent diagnoses included distemper (75% were badgers), amyloidosis (96% were martens), bacterial respiratory infections (all mustelids), biting lice (badgers only) and pulmonary and gastro-intestinal helminths (all species). Less frequent diseases included histoplasmosis (badgers only), aspergillosis, toxoplasmosis, hepatozoonosis, and sarcoptic mange. Lesions due to infection with distemper virus were primarily appreciated in the respiratory tract and central nervous system; they presented species-specific characteristics such as necrosis in the ependyma in badgers and absence of syncytia in stone martens. Amyloidosis in martens was multisystemic in most cases and included both AA and AL amyloidosis; the main macroscopic change was severe splenomegaly. CONCLUSION Infectious diseases were the most frequent causes of morbidity and mortality of mustelids, with marked species-specific differences. Lung and skin were the most commonly affected organs. Contagious diseases such as canine distemper, sarcoptic mange and rabies in mustelids showed a similar temporal pattern as in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), suggesting pathogen spillovers from foxes to mustelids