Structure and current status of the block system for animal production students at hohenheim university

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Investigating Computer Self-Efficacy with Students in COBOL Programming

The theory of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1982) has been used in the field of Information Systems to test its predictive nature of computing outcomes (Compeau & Higgins, 1995, Gist, Schwoerer & Rosen, 1989; Murphy, Coover & Owen, 1989). It has been shown to be a successful measure of performance and indeed, is now perceived as a “practical indicator of student computer competency” (Karsten & Roth, 1998). This study attempts to further quantify and qualify such a measure and investigates the degree to which self-efficacy can be manipulated. Additionally, it has been traditionally thought that programming maintenance is more difficult when a programmer must modify someone else’s program rather than his or her own. This study also investigates this phenomenon within the context of self-efficacy. Findings show that self-efficacy is an important indicator of outcome performance and that it can be artificially manipulated. Some surprising results occurred when students were asked to modify someone else’s code

Using Giving Voice to Values to Improve Student Academic Integrity in Information Technology Contexts

Academic integrity continues to be a concern for universities and faculty. Yet practical methods for conveying ethical behavior can be difficult to achieve. This study uses the multidimensional ethics scale to gain insight into three situations involving students. The findings from those scenarios are then framed using the Giving Voice to Values ethics pedagogy in order to provide common rationales given by students and to create levers or arguments that can be used to combat the rationales. The common rationales and levers provided in this study, along with the scenarios, can be used as teaching tools to promote ethical action among current students

How Managers and Workers See Their World: Perceptions of the Relationship Between Organizational Capabilities and Absorptive Capacity in U.S. State Information Systems Departments

Despite the recognition that information is a strategic asset to any state government, there is a relative dearth of research on the information systems (IS) function in state government. This stands in contrast to the number of articles devoted to e-government initiatives. IS departments however are central to state agencies’ efforts to develop optimal responses to demands from their internal and external constituents. The authors examine the connections between perceptions of critical agency capabilities (socialization, coordination, and systems) and the absorptive capacity of state IS departments from the perspective of IS workers and IS managers. Findings indicate that two critical capabilities (socialization and coordination) explained 62.5% of the variation in absorptive capacity for IS workers and 47% of the variation for IS managers. In addition, the influence of the relevant knowledge of IS workers and managers is found to have differing influences on agency capabilities

The Information Technology Professional: A Two-wave Study of Factors Impacting Commitment and Satisfaction

In this paper, we present a two-wave study that examined the relationships between three independent variables (professional identification, psychological contract violation, and fairness) and three dependent variables (general satisfaction, satisfaction with the information technology (IT) profession, and affective commitment to the IT profession). The constructs analyzed pertain to the IT workforce and represent areas where the literature has provided conflicting results with regard to the nature of the relationships. Due to the lack of consistency related to causality among these variables, we used 10 separate canonical correlation models to analyze the responses from two surveys distributed across three years. Results consistently revealed a significant relationship between perceived psychological contract violation and fairness with the dependent constructs related to satisfaction (general, and with the IT profession). Both gender and tenure in the IT profession played a role in the identification process for this group of individuals. We present and discuss additional findings along with limitations and directions for future research

E-profiles, Conflict, and Shared Understanding in Distributed Teams

In this research, we examine the efficacy of a technological intervention in shaping distributed team members’ perceptions about their teammates. We argue that, by exposing distributed team members to electronic profiles (e-profiles) with information emphasizing their personal similarities with one another, distributed teams should experience lower levels of relational and task conflict. In turn, reductions in conflict should facilitate a shared understanding among team members, which should increase their team effectiveness. The results of a laboratory experiment of 46 distributed teams generally support these assertions. Specifically, we found that a simple, technological intervention can reduce task conflict in distributed teams, which, in turn, improves shared understanding and team effectiveness. We also uncovered important differences in the antecedents and impacts of relational and task conflict. Although we found that the e-profile intervention was effective in accounting for variance in task conflict (R2 = .41), it was quite poor in accounting for variance in relational conflict (R2 = .04). The model accounts for 33% and 43% of the variance in shared understanding and team effectiveness, respectively. Taken together, the results of this research suggest that the information shared about team members in distributed team settings has important implications for their ability to collaborate, achieve a common understanding of their work, and accomplish their task effectively. We suggest that e-profiles may be a useful intervention for management to enhance effectiveness in distributed teams

Physical activity and incidence of atrial fibrillation: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Whether physical activity increases or decreases the risk of atrial fibrillation (AF) remains controversial. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the relationship between AF and extent of physical activity. We searched Medline and EMBASE in June 2014 for studies that reported on the associated risk of AF according to history of physical activity. Pooled risk ratios for AF were calculated using inverse variance random effects model, and heterogeneity assessed using I2. Subgroup analysis was performed according to the nature of the physical activity, and the quality of the studies. We identified 19 relevant studies with a total of over half a million participants (n = 511,503). The pooled analysis showed no association between intensive physical activity and AF (RR 1.00 95% CI 0.82–1.22, I2 = 73%, 8 studies, 152,925 participants) with no difference considering low and moderate to high risk of bias studies. Pooled analysis of studies reporting on increasing amount of time spent on physical activities did not show a significant association with AF (RR 0.95 95% CI 0.72–1.26, I2 = 84%, 4 studies, 112,784 participants). Studies of athletes or participants with a history of sports activity which were of poor methodology quality showed a borderline significant association with AF (pooled RR 1.98 95% CI 1.00–3.94, I2 = 59%, 6 studies, 1973 participants). In conclusion, we found no significant increase in AF with a higher level of physical activity. These findings support clinical guidelines encouraging patients to exercise as there is no evidence for harm associated with increased physical activity

A quantum McKay correspondence for fractional 2p-branes on LG orbifolds

We study fractional 2p-branes and their intersection numbers in non-compact orbifolds as well the continuation of these objects in Kahler moduli space to coherent sheaves in the corresponding smooth non-compact Calabi-Yau manifolds. We show that the restriction of these objects to compact Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces gives the new fractional branes in LG orbifolds constructed by Ashok et. al. in hep-th/0401135. We thus demonstrate the equivalence of the B-type branes corresponding to linear boundary conditions in LG orbifolds, originally constructed in hep-th/9907131, to a subset of those constructed in LG orbifolds using boundary fermions and matrix factorization of the world-sheet superpotential. The relationship between the coherent sheaves corresponding to the fractional two-branes leads to a generalization of the McKay correspondence that we call the quantum McKay correspondence due to a close parallel with the construction of branes on non-supersymmetric orbifolds. We also provide evidence that the boundary states associated to these branes in a conformal field theory description corresponds to a sub-class of the boundary states associated to the permutation branes in the Gepner model associated with the LG orbifold.Comment: LaTeX2e, 1+39 pages, 3 figures (v2) refs added, typos and report no. correcte