Understanding the Quality of Informational Health Websites: The Application of the Kano Model

This study reports on an exploratory investigation of quality criteria classification of informational health websites using the Kano model. The results showed that quality features are of three types: (i) basic features which are the minimal requirements the consumers expect; (ii) performance features, which are the ones that maximize the consumers satisfaction with the health website; and (iii) the exciting features which are the delighters, the consumers do not consciously expect. The findings indicate that providing accessible website with high quality content that are friendly usable and trustworthy are basic quality features. On the other hand, features of visually appealing website, and human and/or automated feedback mechanisms are performance features that maximize the consumers satisfaction. Developing a health website that incorporates culturally-appropriate materials and employs interactive learning tools such as simulation or puzzles delights consumers and makes the website a leader in it space

Bringing Computational Thinking to STEM Education

AbstractToday, as advanced technologies and cloud computing tools emerge, it is imperative that such innovations are sustained with knowledge and skill set among STEM educators and practitioners. In this paper, the author reports on a project, HBCU-UP II, that works on bringing Computational Thinking to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. A Computational-Thinking based strategy is adopted to enforce thinking computationally in STEM gate-keeping courses. The paper presents framework, implementation and outcomes. This on-going project contributes to efforts to establish computational thinking as a universally applicable attitude that is meshed within STEM conversations, education, and curricula. This paper will be particularly useful for researchers interested in Computational Thinking and its applications in STEM education, in particular and higher education in genera

HeWEK: Measuring the Health Website Quality From the Perception of the African American

Unintentionally, the growth of health websites deepened health disparities between population subgroup as it considers the perception of some sub-populations and ignore the needs of others when designing health websites. This paper presents a study that aims onto considering the perception of the African American in identifying the quality attributes of health websites. Based on focus group research and two-round factor analysis, findings indicate that quality of health websites is a function of dimensions of Aesthetic Design’, ‘Website Usability’, ‘Information Quality’, ‘Information Architecture’, ‘Responsiveness’, ‘Trust’, ‘Identity’, ‘Appropriateness to Culture’, and ‘Learnability’. The paper provides useful messages for website designers, website content mangers, usability practitioners, and web-based healthcare program managers. Also, theoretical implications and limitation of the study are presented

Developing an Instrument for Measuring Electronic Shopping Service Quality: E-SQUAL

In contrast to service quality in traditional facilities (e.g., stores, restaurants, clinics) that enjoyed an extensive research during the last 20 years and resulted in a solid base for service quality measurement and management, service quality that is delivered via the web, termed here electronic service quality, lacks maturity. The present study develops and validates an instrument for measuring electronic service quality of online shopping sites. Using two independent datasets, a conceptual framework of e-service quality is proposed and empirically tested. This research develops an E-SQUAL scale consisting of six dimensions: information quality, web usability, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and personalization. The developed scale demonstrates strong psychometric properties in terms of reliability and validity. Conclusion, implications and limitations of the study are presented

Undergraduate Research Experience For STEM Students: Efforts And Outcomes

Undergraduate research for STEM students involves students who are attending college or universities pursuing a bachelor's degree, majoring in fields related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics(STEM).  Research experience for STEM undergraduates has been viewed as a positive experience that has several benefits such as developing intellectual mentality, enhancing teamwork skills and improving preparation for graduate study.  In this paper, we provide an overview of HBCU-UP research experience with STEM students at Philander Smith College for the last few years. Projects in Bioinformatics and Human-Computer Interaction of two Computer Science faculty and their teams are shared.  Efforts in implementing research experiences and outcomes of these efforts are discussed.&nbsp

Key Dimensions of E-commerce Service Quality and Its Relationships to Satisfaction and Loyalty

Evidence exists that one successful strategy to satisfy and retain customers is offering superior service quality. Motivated by the growing interest in e-commerce, we focus our research questions on identifying the key dimensions of e-commerce service quality and its relationships to customer satisfaction and loyalty. In exploring answers to our research questions a hypothesized model is proposed and empirically tested using a research survey with 370 online shoppers. Salient results include: (1) key dimensions of e-commerce service quality are website usability, information quality, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and personalization; (2) customer satisfaction is influenced mostly with the perception of reliability, while customer loyalty is affected by the perception of assurance; (3) customer retention is predicted by the customer satisfaction index. Results of the study contribute to the nascent body of research in e-service quality and offer unique insights for managers of online firms on how to manage the quality of their e-commerce e-service