The Impacts of Aligned Teaching on Students Perceived Engagement in Independent Learning and Satisfaction : An Empirical Investigation in Hong Kong

In response to the move towards Outcomes-based Education in Hong Kong our paper aims at investigating the impacts of the Outcomes-based Teaching and Learning approach OBTL on students satisfaction and perceived engagement in independent learning in the context of higher education Building upon the principle of constructive alignment we propose a theoretical model to examine the impacts of constructively aligned teaching and learning that is conceptualized as the constructive alignment Index in our paper An empirical study of undergraduate students n 253 found that the constructive alignment index CAI positively predicted students satisfaction and their perceived engagement in independent learning Implications for research and practice are discusse

The State of Electronic Word-Of-Mouth Research: A Literature Analysis

This study evaluates the current status of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) research through an exhaustive literature review of relevant articles. We have identified a total of 83 eWOM research articles published from 2001 through 2010. Published research into eWOM first appeared in peer-reviewed journals about ten years ago, and research has been steadily increasing. Among research topic area, the impact of eWOM communication was the most researched topic in the last decade. We also found that individual and message were the two mostly used unit of analysis in eWOM studies. Survey, secondary data analysis, and mathematical modeling were the three main streams of research method. Finally, we found diverse theoretical approaches in understanding eWOM communication. We conclude this paper by identifying important trends in the eWOM literature to provide future research directions

The Effectiveness of Electronic Word-of-Mouth Communication: A Literature Analysis

Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication has been one of the most exciting research areas of inquiry. There is an emerging attention on the effectiveness of eWOM communication. The scope of published studies on the impact of eWOM communication is rather broad and the studies appear relatively fragmented and inconclusive. In this study, we focused on the individual-level eWOM research. We conducted a systematic review of eWOM research and identified key factors that are specific to the context of eWOM communication. We believe that this literature analysis not only provides us with an overview of the current status of knowledge within the domain of eWOM communication, but also serves as a salient guideline for future research directions

Assessing the Quality and Knowledge Contribution of MIS Quarterly: A Citation Analysis

This paper employs citation analysis to investigate empirically the influence of MIS Quarterly on both IS and other literature. Specifically, we examine the impact of source article category, method type, and research area on article citation rates. Our results reveal that the citation-based quality indices of MISQ have been improving over the years. In addition, among the six categories of MISQ source articles, the methodological articles on average receive the most citings per article. Moreover, of the source articles employing different research methods, surveys, case studies, and lab experiments are more likely to be cited. Among source articles addressing different research areas, those focusing on IT and individuals receive the most citings per article. Finally, our analysis also shows that MISQ articles are well-cited by researchers from both IS and other disciplines, implying that IS does make knowledge contribution to other disciplines

Consumer Purchase Decision in Instagram Stores:The Role of Consumer Trust

Instagram, a prominent social networking site, has become a popular online shopping platform among young people. In this study, we have attempted to understand what drives people to purchase in virtual stores on Instagram. Specifically, we built upon the integrative framework of trust and identified three groups of factors explaining consumer trust in Instagram stores: trustworthiness of Instagram stores (i.e., perceived benevolence, perceived integrity, and perceived competence), propensity to trust, and external environment (i.e., Key Opinion Leader (KOL) endorsement and peer customer endorsement). These factors are expected to influence consumer trust in Instagram stores, and trust in turn determines consumer intention to purchase. The model was empirically tested with 157 Instagram users. Perceived benevolence, perceived integrity, and KOL endorsement were found to be significant factors affecting consumer trust in Instagram stores, and trust was found to have a strong relationship with consumer purchase intention. The results of this study are expected to advance the trust literature in the context of social commerce and to offer practical guidelines to Instagram storeowners

Performance tests of signature extension algorithms

Comparative tests were performed on seven signature extension algorithms to evaluate their effectiveness in correcting for changes in atmospheric haze and sun angle in a LANDSAT scene. Four of the algorithms were cluster matching, and two were maximum likelihood algorithms. The seventh algorithm determined the haze level in both training and recognition segments and used a set of tables calculated from an atmospheric model to determine the affine transformation that corrects the training signatures for changes in sun angle and haze level. Three of the algorithms were tested on a simulated data set, and all of the algorithms were tested on consecutive-day data

First-Year College Women\u27s Motivations for Hooking up: A Mixed-Methods Examination of Normative Peer Perceptions and Personal Hookup Participation

This study used content analysis techniques to explore 221 first-year college women\u27s perceptions of female peers’ reasons (i.e., normative perceptions) for hooking up. Data on personal participation in hooking up were also collected. The well-established Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Cooper, 1994) was used as a framework for coding positive (enhancement or social) and negative (coping or conformity) normative hookup motivations. Participants most commonly indicated that enhancement reasons motivated peers’ hookup behaviors (69.7%). Coping (23.5%), external (21.7%), social (19.5%), and conformity (16.3%) motives were cited less frequently. Furthermore, women who had hooked up since matriculating into college (61.5%, n = 136) were significantly more likely to state that their female peers hook up for enhancement reasons (a positive motive), but they were significantly less likely to perceive that typical female peers hook up for coping or conformity reasons (negative motives) (ps \u3c .001). Findings indicate not only that college women uphold overwhelmingly positive perceptions for peers’ hooking up, but there appears to be a strong relationship between college women\u27s own hooking up participation and the positive versus negative attributions they ascribe to hooking up among their peers. This study extends the understanding of college women\u27s perceptions and potential influences of hooking up and provides implications for harm reduction efforts

Experimental evidence on promotion of electric and improved biomass cookstoves.

Improved cookstoves (ICS) can deliver "triple wins" by improving household health, local environments, and global climate. Yet their potential is in doubt because of low and slow diffusion, likely because of constraints imposed by differences in culture, geography, institutions, and missing markets. We offer insights about this challenge based on a multiyear, multiphase study with nearly 1,000 households in the Indian Himalayas. In phase I, we combined desk reviews, simulations, and focus groups to diagnose barriers to ICS adoption. In phase II, we implemented a set of pilots to simulate a mature market and designed an intervention that upgraded the supply chain (combining marketing and home delivery), provided rebates and financing to lower income and liquidity constraints, and allowed households a choice among ICS. In phase III, we used findings from these pilots to implement a field experiment to rigorously test whether this combination of upgraded supply and demand promotion stimulates adoption. The experiment showed that, compared with zero purchase in control villages, over half of intervention households bought an ICS, although demand was highly price-sensitive. Demand was at least twice as high for electric stoves relative to biomass ICS. Even among households that received a negligible price discount, the upgraded supply chain alone induced a 28 percentage-point increase in ICS ownership. Although the bundled intervention is resource-intensive, the full costs are lower than the social benefits of ICS promotion. Our findings suggest that market analysis, robust supply chains, and price discounts are critical for ICS diffusion

An Empirical Investigation into the Antecedents and Consequences of Customer Engagement in Omnichannel Retailing

Engaging customers across channels has become one of the biggest challenges for retailers adopting an omnichannel strategy. In this study, we examine how channel integration quality influences customer engagement in the context of omnichannel retailing. Drawing on the conceptual model of customer engagement, we proposed a research model to explain the effects of breadth of channel choice, transparency of channel-service configuration, content consistency, and process consistency on customer engagement, as well as the positive outcomes associated with the engagement. The research model will be tested with a sample of 500 omnichannel customers using a structural equation modeling approach. This study is expected to contribute to the research on, and practice of, the omnichannel customer engagement by validating the antecedents and consequences of such engagement as well as providing practitioners with insights into devising a successful omnichannel retailing strategy

Increased Regional Epicardial Fat Volume Associated with Reversible Myocardial Ischemia in Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

Epicardial adipose tissue is a source of pro-inflammatory cytokines and has been linked to the development of coronary artery disease. No study has systematically assessed the relationship between local epicardial fat volume (EFV) and myocardial perfusion defects. We analyzed EFV in patients undergoing SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging combined with computed tomography (CT) for attenuation correction. Low-dose CT without contrast was performed in 396 consecutive patients undergoing SPECT imaging for evaluation of coronary artery disease. Regional thickness, cross-sectional areas, and total EFV were assessed. 295 patients had normal myocardial perfusion scans and 101 had abnormal perfusion scans. Mean EFVs in normal, ischemic, and infarcted hearts were 99.8 ± 82.3 cm3, 156.4 ± 121.9 cm3, and 96.3 ± 102.1 cm3, respectively (P < 0.001). Reversible perfusion defects were associated with increased local EFV compared to normal perfusion in the distribution of the right (69.2 ± 51.5 vs 46.6 ± 32.0 cm3; P = 0.03) and left anterior descending coronary artery (87.1 ± 76.4 vs 46.7 ± 40.6 cm3; P = 0.005). Our results demonstrate increased regional epicardial fat in patients with active myocardial ischemia compared to patients with myocardial scar or normal perfusion on nuclear perfusion scans. Our results suggest a potential role for cardiac CT to improve risk stratification in patients with suspected coronary artery disease