Utilizing Visualization Mechanisms to Improve User Performance during Cyber Defense Competitions

This paper describes the development of a visualization system used by students participating in a collegiate cyber defense competition and a first-pass exploratory analysis of the system. Feedback was gathered from first-time users of the system through open-ended field interviews. This initial contextual analysis examined user attitudes about appropriating a new technology in their overall competition strategy. While challenges in the data display and user interface were reported, the interviewees reported that the team and network views offered by the new visualization system enabled them to improve their performance during the competition activities

Charter schools and neighborhood revitalization in Indianapolis (2000-2010)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUICharter schools are a major movement in American education and increasingly used as a city strategy for neighborhood rehabilitation. Indianapolis is one of a growing number of urban areas to promote charter schools as catalysts for neighborhood revitalization. Previous studies find mixed results about the causes of neighborhood change or how residents make mobility decisions. The present study seeks to create an empirical model that discovers the impact of charter schools as a neighborhood amenity. This is based on two measures of well-being: change in percentage poverty and change in percentage school-aged residents. Data indicate a negative relationship between charter schools in a census tract and the school-aged resident population. However, statistical analysis did not support a significant relationship between either measure and charter schools in the ten year time frame

Type vs. Turnout: Correlations Between Types of Higher Education Institutions and Student Voter Turnout

Voter turnout in the youth demographic has been the subject of increased attention and research in the past several years, with many questions left unanswered. The 18-25 age demographic can play a crucial and impactful role in elections. However, many young adults do not vote. Higher education has often been viewed as a catalyst for civic engagement amongst this age demographic, with correlations between enrollment in higher education and increased rates of voter turnout being evident. Given there is much variation between different kinds of institutions, however, this raises the question: what types of institutions and their respective characteristics correlate with higher rates of turnout? This project aims to answer this question through statistical analysis of relationships between different kinds of institutions (Liberal Arts Colleges, National Universities, and Regional Colleges) and student voter turnout rates. The hypothesis being tested is that due to having smaller class sizes, a larger live-on population, and a robust curriculum that offers the opportunity for critical discussion, Liberal Arts Colleges yield higher student voter turnout rates. By comparing turnout rates from 2016 and 2020 across institution types, this project will explore first, if there is a relationship between institution type and turnout, and second, what specific institutional characteristics impact this relationship independently or collectively. Through this research, education organizations can gain insight into how to better serve as catalysts for civic engagement for their students given or despite their institution-specific characteristics

The Impact of Intercultural Communication Competence on Academic Advising at an American-Style University in West Africa

While the internationalization of American higher education has seen significant growth in the past decade, little is known about the advisor-advisee relationship in American transnational institutions and, more specifically, at American-style institutions abroad. This quantitative study examined students’ expectations of and satisfaction with academic advising, and investigated whether students’ intercultural communication competence (ICC) predicted student satisfaction at an American-style university in West Africa. Research concerning international students in the United States provides an outline for examining academic advising abroad. Academic advisors play a vital role in motivating and empowering students. Cultural and academic challenges that international students face impact their advising experiences. The existing literature shows that international students lack an understanding of academic advising which creates confusion and, oftentimes, negatively impacts advising satisfaction. Additionally, studies suggest that preference towards a particular advising model are mixed, with elements of both prescriptive and developmental advising being seen as valuable by international students. The present study is guided by ICC which has been shown to impact satisfaction in advisor-international advisee relationships. With the expansion of transnational education, this study is timely and provides useful information geared towards student affairs professionals abroad. The current study found statistical significance for advising expectations based off of gender and advising satisfaction based off of number of yearly appointments, approximate time spent per session, and where students obtained the majority of their information

Mining for meaning: The use of unstructured textual data in information systems research

The objectives of this research are to demonstrate how text was used in (1) developing a theory to examine collaborative interaction in virtual worlds, (2) creating a framework for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of dealing with large text datasets for social network analysis, and (3) approaching an understanding of the role of meaning individuals attribute to their mobile devices

The Relationship Between University Employees’ Work Engagement and the Perception of Their Influence on Student Integration and Retention

The retention of college students is an issue that affects the student, the university, and the workforce. When a student does not graduate, they often either earn less over the period of their lifetime, or are unable to find a job. The workforce is affected because this means fewer qualified applicants to fill positions. Universities are impacted in many ways, including financially. Lower retention rates lead to less income from tuition and decreased funding from state and federal sources which base funding formulas on performance outcomes (National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014). One way to increase the likelihood of student retention is through the integration of the students into the academic and social communities of the university (Tinto, 1987). Faculty and staff’s interactions with students can aid in this integration (Seidman et al., 2012). Employees that are engaged in their work are willing to do more than their position requires and demonstrate vigor, dedication, and absorption at work (Markos & Sridevi, 2010; Schaufeli, Bakker, & Salanova, 2006). Organizations with engaged employees typically outperform organizations with disengaged employees (Cascio & Boudreau, 2011). The current study, conducted at The University of Southern Mississippi, is cross-sectional, descriptive, and non-experimental by design and explores six research objectives. The findings of the study include: faculty and staff at The University of Southern Mississippi are engaged in their work. A direct, positive relationship exists between work engagement levels and faculty and staff’s perception of influence on student integration and retention. Additional research should be conducted using a larger sample, to include other universities, to increase the generalizability of the results. It is also recommended that the relationship between work engagement and retention outcomes be measured

Growing Healthy Communities Initiative: Transforming the Built Environment to Combat Obesity

A contributing factor to the U.S. national obesity epidemic is the built environment-the physical aspects of a community in which we live, work and engage in our everyday activities. Therefore, modifying the built environment can be a solution to address the epidemic. Such an example is the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention (ArCOP) Growing Healthy Communities (GHC) initiative. The GHC initiative encourages community health workers, health education specialists, government officials and other stakeholders to embrace community collaboration in efforts to improve built environments by equipping them with resources that increase community access to healthy foods and physical activities to help combat obesity. ArCOP to date has funded 100+ GHC communities in Arkansas. One of the five communities being highlighted by the authors for their GHC efforts includes: the University of Arkansas at Little Rock University District community, in which the authors have contributed to implementing various GHC projects for the residents of this community. The GHC, a state initiative, has implications for national and global use, and it is emerging as an exemplary best practice model. It provides communities with effective strategies to help address the health inequities of obesity, through prevention and intervention measures to improve health behaviors

The changing nature of user attitudes toward virtual world technology: A longitudinal study

Virtual world technologies have been utilized in gaming for a number of years but only recently have they been applied as a serious tool for business. Many business applications have been identified, including the use of virtual worlds for team collaboration, training, and education, but a question remains about whether users will accept the premise that virtual worlds represent useful environments for engaging in business functions. We address this question by examining user reactions to virtual worlds. The first study looks at attitudes of users of the virtual world Second Life during three time periods (i.e., before exposure to the environment, after an information session and discussion of Second Life, and after use of the environment). Two variables, user acceptance of virtual world technologies and user self-efficacy, were examined as the primary dependent measures. Results show that while self-efficacy increases over time, user acceptance decreases in a highly correlated pattern. A second study investigates the underlying causes of the observed pattern of user acceptance using a content analysis of written reflections of user experiences. Both studies paint a detailed picture of user intentions and some of the reasons these intentions developed after use. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these results for business managers and researchers

Território e planejamento urbano em Blumenau: a disputa por espaços seguros

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Geografia, Florianópolis, 2016.A história do município de Blumenau está fortemente atrelada às grandes cheias do Rio Itajaí-Açu, principal rio que corta o município. Haja vista que com as cheias o município convive com deslizamentos e a situação agravou-se nos últimos anos devido a um processo intenso de ocupação das encostas. A configuração geológica e geomorfológica de seu sítio físico oferece fortes condicionantes à ocupação humana e ao processo de urbanização. A implantação dos complexos industriais foi, historicamente, pouco sensível a estas questões, impulsionando dinâmicas de expansão urbana em áreas pouco propícias a tais usos. A gestão pública do território, inicialmente, não identificou ou se omitiu a tais problemáticas, ratificando a dinâmica de concentração demográfica, de fluxos, equipamentos, infraestrutura e serviços em áreas com fortes condicionantes ambientais. Neste cenário, percebe-se uma intensa disputa entre atores e grupos sociais por áreas livres de riscos de enchentes e deslizamentos, intentando que a forte restrição na disponibilidade de terra urbanizável exacerba os conflitos territoriais. Considerando-os que são elucidativos na compreensão dos caminhos trilhados pelo Planejamento Urbano institucionalizado em Blumenau: seus atores, suas instâncias, seus processos e produtos. Em vista disso, esta pesquisa objetiva analisar o território do município de Blumenau e seu planejamento urbano, com um olhar voltado às disputas por espaços seguros para os diversos usos urbanos: indústria, habitação, serviços, comércio etc. Compreende-se que estas disputas se manifestam na forma assumida pelo planejamento urbano em Blumenau, por meio da análise crítica de seus planos diretores. Especificamente, ela reflete como tais disputas estiveram presentes no processo de revisão do Plano Diretor de 2006 e do Código de Zoneamento de 2010 no município de Blumenau. Além disso, entende-se que as dinâmicas inscritas no processo de elaboração do Plano e que abarcam tais disputas se materializaram em conteúdos presentes no plano diretor: diretrizes, macrozoneamento, zoneamento e demais instrumentos urbanísticos contidos no projeto de lei aprovado pela Câmara de Vereadores.Abstract : The history of the city of Blumenau is strongly linked to major floods of Itajaí-Acu River, the main river that bisects the city. Along flood the city coexists with slides, a situation aggravated in recent years by an intense process of occupation of the slopes. The geological and geomorphological setting up your physical site has therefore offered strong constraints to human settlement and the process of urbanization. The implementation of the industrial complex has historically been very sensitive to these issues, driving dynamics of urban expansion in some areas suitable for such uses. Public land management initially did not identify or omitted from such problems, confirming the dynamics of demographic concentration, flow, equipment, infrastructure and services in areas with strong environmental constraints. In this scenario realizes an intense dispute between actors and social groups by areas free from risks of floods and landslides. The strong constraint on the availability of developable land ultimately exacerbate territorial conflicts. We believe that these conflicts are instructive in understanding the paths taken by the Urban Planning institutionalized in Blumenau: his actors, their bodies, their processes and products. This research aims to analyze the municipality of Blumenau and its urban planning with an eye toward the disputes safe spaces for various urban uses: industry, housing, services, trade, etc. We seek to understand how these disputes are manifested in the form assumed by the urban planning in Blumenau, through critical analysis of their master plans. More specifically this research seeks to understand how such disputes were present in the review process of the Master Plan of 2006 and the 2010 Zoning Code in the city of Blumenau. More than understanding the dynamics registered in the drafting of the Plan, we will seek to understand how these disputes materialized in content present in the master plan: guidelines, macro-zoning, zoning and other urban instruments contained in the bill passed by the City Council

Recruitment Strategies for Talent Management in Information Technology

Recruiting skilled personnel is an essential task of managers, and the cost of an unfavorable recruitment strategy could result in productivity loss, low company morale, and turnover. Grounded in the competency-based human resource management model, the purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies information technology (IT) hiring managers used to recruit skilled personnel. Participants were five IT hiring managers from one tax collection agency in Maryland who successfully recruited skilled IT personnel. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and a review of organizational documents, analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: identifying competencies for occupations, college recruiting, creating applicants, and workforce planning. A key recommendation is for IT hiring managers to create competencies for positions and use them to recruit students to increase their workforce. The implications for positive social change include the potential to successfully recruit skilled IT professionals, translating into more significant revenue to improve social services delivered to local communities