Characterizing Website Traffic Driven by Different Media Types

The audience for KSU Ag Extension services consists of crop managers across Kansas; traditionally reached through face-to-face events and delivery of paper-based materials. The myFields program is an alternative, online approach for delivering information; important in light of budget cuts that reduce face-to-face events and paper publications. The extension of myFields has been defined by social media, newsletters, and the radio. Our goal is to look at the analytics of the site and to determine which extension outlet is the most effective for driving user traffic to the website. We want to know; how do different media outlets drive user traffic to myFields.info? Using new data available on the site, we will track site analytics after pushing the data release on 1) social media (Twitter), 2) the agronomy department’s newsletter (eUpdates), and 3) KSU’s ag radio show (Ag Today). Specifically, we used the release of 2018 corn performance data on our Demonstration Plot Data tool to audiences as a driver to the site. The results suggest that the eUpdate article was the most successful extension resource considering the length of time people spent on the site, but the Radio spot was extremely successful as a jump in page views

Extension Education: How do we learn best?

Due to the rise of new educational methods, one may begin to wonder, what is the best way to learn information? Can these new methods truly replace traditional methods? This experiment evaluated the effectiveness of an infographic to a text based on amount of information retained and personal preference. This study also examines if professional status has an effect on information retention. In order to answer these questions, subjects were given a copy of an infographic and a journal article covering the same information. The subjects were then given 5 minutes to look over both materials and to answer four comprehensive questions. After completing this portion, the subjects were then asked to complete a survey analyzing the effectiveness of the methods and their personal preferences. The results yielded that an infographic is a better than a journal article for distributing information to both students and extension personnel

Understanding an alternative approach to paramedic leadership

Leadership is an essential feature of the life of a paramedic. During incidents, while working with multi-agency colleagues, and within organisations, leadership is an expected quality for paramedics to have. Across health and social care organisations, leadership is said to be of pivotal importance to future success. This has led to a large investment in leadership development programmes that organisations are now seeking to justify. Leadership, as a concept however, is complex and multifaceted. The nature of leadership has been debated over millennia and disagreement remains as to how to define it. The current article uses Critical Interpretive Synthesis to consider how approaches to leadership have developed over time. It concludes with a synthesising argument that leadership is a social construct; as such, no single definition will ever be appropriate. However, the four elements that comprise the leadership equation should be considered if the paramedic leader is to be effective

Successful Aging: Use Of Communication Technology In An Adult Day Program

This dissertation investigated the relationship between learning digital communication technologies in an intergenerational intervention and successful aging among older adults. The specific goal of this study was to uncover the effects of this intervention on the cultural constructions of aging in an urban Adult Day Program in Trinidad and Tobago. This mixed method study utilized the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS; Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986), a life satisfaction scale, well-being measurements, open-ended survey questionnaires and a focus group session. The results from the quantitative items indicated no significant differences after the intervention; however, the focus group discussion and open-ended surveys provided useful information on the processes involved. This study has implications for the design of similar intergenerational programs throughout Trinidad and Tobago and other Caribbean islands which can promote conditions for successful aging

A tempest in a ladle:Debate about the roles of general and specific abilities in predicting important outcomes

The debate about the roles of general and specific abilities in predicting important outcomes is a tempest in a ladle because we cannot measure abilities without also measuring skills. Skills always develop through exposure, are specific rather than general, and are executed using different strategies by different people, thus tapping into varied specific abilities. Relative predictive validities of measurement formats depend on the purpose: the more general and long-term the purpose, the better the more general measure. The more specific and immediate the purpose, the better the closely related specific measure

The Determinants of Leadership: The Role of Genetic, Personality, and Cognitive Factors

A sample of 646 male twins (331 monozygotic or identical, 315 dizygotic or fraternal) completed a survey indicating their leadership role occupancy in work settings. Data on these individuals were also available for personality and cognitive variables. As predicted, two personality variables (Social Potency and Achievement) and a cognitive variable (a vocabulary test) were significantly correlated with the leadership variable. Subsequently, univariate and multivariate genetic analyses showed that a substantial portion of this leadership variance was accounted for by genetic factors (39 percent) while non-shared (or non-common) environmental factors accounted for the remaining variance in this leadership variable. Genetic influences were shown for the personality and cognitive factors as well. Finally, results indicated that the genetic influences for the leadership factor were substantially associated with or common with the genetic factors influencing the personality factors, but not with the cognitive variable.