Developing a Measure of Virtual Community Citizenship Behavior

This study examines the kinds of behaviors that constitute virtual community citizenship behaviors (VCCB) and tests three factors that may influence community members’ willingness to engage in VCCB. More specifically, the authors propose a multi-dimensional VCCB construct (altruism, civic virtue, consciousness, courtesy, and sportsmanship) and three antecedents of VCCB (affective commitment, structural embeddedness and membership tenure). Four dimensions including altruism, civic virtue, courtesy and loyalty emerged as a result of behavioral examples collection from SMEs using critical incident technique and a VCCB survey with 19 Likert type items reflecting the behavioral examples within each dimension was created. Data was collected from an online discussion forum (The Grad Cafe) to address the research questions of this study. Results indicate that affective commitment was a significant predictor of the virtual community citizenship behaviors. A research agenda for studying VCCB is presented

A Brief Examination of Predictors of E-Learning Success for Novice and Expert Learners

As the prevalence of e-learning continues to grow in higher education settings, so too does the need for empirical research examining the antecedents of success in this environment. Previous research has suggested some characteristics that may determine success in an online course; however, little empirical evidence exists relating potential predictors of e-learning success with actual performance outcomes, particularly for different levels of learners. Students new to college may need different kinds of support to succeed in an online course compared to students with more experience in taking college-level courses, whether online or in-class, and navigating institutional resources. A primary goal of the current study is to determine the kinds of support needed to help lower-level and upper-level learners succeed in an e-learning environment. We assess several predictors of e-learning success and compare the relative effectiveness of these characteristics across novice and expert learners. Findings suggest that for lower-level students, access to technology predicted learner performance, whereas for upper-level students, motivation and self-discipline predicted learner performance. We discuss the implications of these results for e-learning instructors, instructional designers, and knowledge management practitioners

Leading a Campus Team to Navigate Through the Comprehensive Evaluation

What are some best practices to help your institution prepare for a comprehensive evaluation? This presentation will include discussion of how to gain broad campus community participation by assembling a team to help lead the process. Committee membership, information sharing, meeting topics and timelines will be shared

Distinguishing Motive Through Perception of Emotions

The question of whether people use perceived expressions of emotion to infer motive is tested in this study. Naïve observers viewed target subjects performing a simple «tower building» task under more or less motivating conditions. Observers ranked target effort levels and ticked emotions displayed of four targets. Motive rankings matched target motive conditions well. Emotion checklist scores also showed high accuracy when compared with target self-reports of emotions experienced. Regression showed that most of the variance in motivation ratings was accounted for by emotions observed. Discussion centers on applications of this understanding of emotive perception in organizations, and the relation between the first two components of Salovey and Mayer’s (1990) model of emotional intelligence

Training Collaboration in a Network-Assisted Environment

Technology enabled non-face-to-face collaboration has the potential to enhance information sharing and shared situational awareness (SSA) by providing near real-time information to a wide audience. Collaborators require an awareness of what critical information should be shared to develop this SSA. Previous research suggested that participants, while reporting that they shared relevant information, in actuality did not. To explore this issue, the previous research was repeated with the addition of having half of the participants exposed to a short training video on how to collaborate. Participants who received training on how to collaborate located significantly more SCUDs during each of the five turns of the two games played. Similarly, participants who received collaboration training scored higher on shared situational awareness during every turn played. Overall, those receiving the training on collaboration shared information more often with their partners and these information exchanges were longer than those who had not received the training. As technology advances, there is an increased need to understand how humans collaborate at a distance. Findings from this research advance our knowledge of how to enhance non-face-to-face collaboration. SCUDHunt, an on-line game developed by Thoughtlink Inc., was selected for this research on collaboration because it provides a simplified model of the interplay of shared awareness and collaboration, while permitting independent manipulation of variables thought to affect them. SCUDHunt requires participants to do the following: (1) collaborate from distributed locations, and (2) share unique information from their intelligence assets for optimal game performance. The goal of the game is simple: locate three SCUD missile launchers on a map. The game requires geographically dispersed players to collaborate while executing digital tasks to achieve a shared goal

Performance in Non-Face-to-Face Collaborative Information Environments

Using technology to obtain and process information requires training not only in human-computer interaction but also in human-human-computer (collaborative) interaction. Warfighters must not only develop their own situational awareness (SA), they must understand each others’ SA (Pew, 1995). This common ground is what each collaboration participant assumes about the others to ensure effective interactions (Ross, 2003; Wellons, 1993). Communication is key. Collaborators must coordinate and share information. Collaboration influences military operations at all levels. Technical interoperability is not enough to produce the synchronization required

Book Review - John W. Budd. (2011). The Thought of Work. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 264 pages.

While work is something central to almost everyone, we probably give little thought to the various philosophical perspectives and theoretical concepts underpinning the notion. In asking my friends and colleagues what work means to them, I heard answers such as “it’s what I do so I can have fun and buy toys” and “I feel personally connected to my career and do this because I love it.” Those I talked to about the topic never quite addressed the numerous perspectives of work presented in the recent book by author and labor relations scholar John Budd, although their comments were related to many of his topics. In The Thought of Work, Budd outlines different conceptualizations and historical perspectives of work covering the many academic disciplines that address the concepts and applications of work

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning: Best Practices and Principles for Instructors

Discusses research on the role of the instructor in computer-supported collaborative learning, real-world perspectives on virtual learning group collaboration, and supporting learning group motivatio