Measuring workplace learning results : using the Kirkpatrick Model

Training at the workplace is commonly accepted as the ready-made solution to organizational problems. It is however, only a solution for problems that can be resolved by training. In this paper, we would consider the ROI of training by taking into account how to design and structure a method of identifying and evidencing the benefits via quality assessment measures which takes into account the drivers (internal and external), and the requirements (operations and customer). The processes basically compare the levels of knowledge, skills, experience and attitude available at the beginning of the programme with those available at the end of such programmes. Types of evidence and the methods used to extract them would also be considered. A case study on a group of sales personnel from a multinational company shall be presented. (Author's abstract

Integrating knowledge at workplace via continuous learning

In the current world scenario of knowledge based economy, competitiveness had never been greater. Organisations and entities need to enhance their human capital capabilities to a level comprising of internal norms and external up-to-date practices. The major results of industryacademia collaboration are still blurred by risk and regulatory fog. This paper draws its contents from the experience and practices of workplace programme initiatives leading to planning, designing and delivery of such programmes. It shares the challenges and strategies for effective initiatives leading to excellent ROI in human capital for recipient organisation and providers. It is aimed to examine what practices/pedagogies/structures enhance the integration of work and learning and what discourage it? Change of policies incorporating assumptions about the integration of work and learning (such as lifelong learning, recognition of prior learning, etc) has made learning at work more conducive with the impact of globalization. The new kinds of partnerships and networks that are increasingly prominent in work arrangements and structures would present the various challenges/opportunities for integrating work and learning

Analysis of Mood States among Cricket Players during Competitive Season

The aim of the study was to analyze the mood states of high- and low-level cricket players during competitive season. 260 cricket players those participated in the Virudhunagar district cricket league during the year 2012-13 were selected as subjects to achieve the study objectives. The subjects confined to this study were classified into two groups as high- and low-level cricket players on the basis of their competitive standards. The high-level group comprising 130 players selected from A Division teams and low-level group constitutes 130 players selected from B Division teams. The age of the subjects was ranged between 15 and 34 years. Profile of Mood States Questionnaire developed by McNair et al., (1971) was used in the present study. This questionnaire constitutes 65-items which measures five negative scales such as fatigue, depression, tension, anger, confusion and positive scale vigour. The two-way factorial ANOVA with repeated measures on the last factor showed that tension, depression, anger and confusion showed no difference during cricket season between high- and low-level cricket players. However, vigor and fatigue interaction is significant and Scheffé S post hoc test was applied. Vigor and fatigue showed significant difference between the groups at start and mid-season. However, vigor showed significant difference between the groups at end and within low level cricket players. It is concluded that positive factor vigor showed high in high level cricket players than low level cricket players. The cricket season showed fatigue in the middle of the season

Computing the multifractal spectrum from time series: An algorithmic approach

We show that the existing methods for computing the f(\alpha) spectrum from a time series can be improved by using a new algorithmic scheme. The scheme relies on the basic idea that the smooth convex profile of a typical f(\alpha) spectrum can be fitted with an analytic function involving a set of four independent parameters. While the standard existing schemes [16, 18] generally compute only an incomplete f(\alpha) spectrum (usually the top portion), we show that this can be overcome by an algorithmic approach which is automated to compute the Dq and f(\alpha) spectrum from a time series for any embedding dimension. The scheme is first tested with the logistic attractor with known f(\alpha) curve and subsequently applied to higher dimensional cases. We also show that the scheme can be effectively adapted for analysing practcal time series involving noise, with examples from two widely different real world systems. Moreover, some preliminary results indicating that the set of four independant parameters may be used as diagnostic measures is also included.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figures, submitted to CHAO

Validation of multi-channel scanning microwave radiometer on-board Oceansat-I

Sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface wind speed (WS) and columnar water vapour (WV) derived from Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR) sensor on-board IRS-P4 (Oceansat-I) were validated against the in situ measurements from ship, moored buoy (MB), drifting buoy (DB) and autonomous weather station (AWS). About 1400 satellite in situ match-ups were used for the validation of SST and WS, while only 60 match-ups were available for the validation of WV. Therefore specific humidity, Q a was used as a proxy for validating WV. The drifting buoy SSTs showed good correlation with the satellite values (r = 0.84). The correlation of MB SSTs was better during night when the WS varied between 0 and 10 m/s. During the day, correlation peaked for higher wind speeds (> 10 m/s). MB (r > 0.80) was relatively better than AWS (r � 0.70) and ship (r < 0.50) for validating satellite-derived WS. Daytime winds exhibited better correlation with satellite values when measured from ocean platforms (MB and ship), but the winds measured from land-based platforms (AWS) were closer to satellite values during night-time. Q a values consistently showed higher correlation with satellite values during night-time. The low root mean square deviation (RMSD) of DB SST (1.17°C) and MB WS (1.52 m s -1) is within the achievable accuracy of the microwave sensor when validated with data collected over the tropical Indian Ocean. The RMSD of Q a (1.81 g kg -1), however, falls much beyond the attainable accuracy of the microwave sensor

Trenchcoat: Human-Computable Hashing Algorithms for Password Generation

The average user has between 90-130 online accounts, and around $3 \times 10^{11}$ passwords are in use this year. Most people are terrible at remembering "random" passwords, so they reuse or create similar passwords using a combination of predictable words, numbers, and symbols. Previous password-generation or management protocols have imposed so large a cognitive load that users have abandoned them in favor of insecure yet simpler methods (e.g., writing them down or reusing minor variants). We describe a range of candidate human-computable "hash" functions suitable for use as password generators - as long as the human (with minimal education assumptions) keeps a single, easily-memorizable "master" secret - and rate them by various metrics, including effective security. These functions hash master-secrets with user accounts to produce sub-secrets that can be used as passwords; $F_R($s$, w) \longrightarrow y$, takes a website $w$, produces a password $y$, parameterized by master secret $s$, which may or may not be a string. We exploit the unique configuration $R$ of each user's associative and implicit memory (detailed in section 2) to ensure that sources of randomness unique to each user are present in each master-secret $F_R$. An adversary cannot compute or verify $F_R$ efficiently since $R$ is unique to each individual; in that sense, our hash function is similar to a physically unclonable function. For the algorithms we propose, the user need only complete primitive operations such as addition, spatial navigation or searching. Critically, most of our methods are also accessible to neurodiverse, or cognitively or physically differently-abled persons. We present results from a survey (n=134 individuals) investigating real-world usage of these methods and how people currently come up with their passwords, we also survey 400 websites to collate current password advice

A Multi-Server Retrial Queueing Inventory System With Asynchronous Multiple Vacations

This article deals with asynchronous server vacation and customer retrial facility in a multi-server queueing-inventory system. The Poisson process governs the arrival of a customer. The system is comprised of c identical servers, a finite-size waiting area, and a storage area containing S items. The service time is distributed exponentially. If each server finds that there are an insufficient number of customers and items in the system after the busy period, they start a vacation. Once the servers vacation is over and it recognizes there is no chance of getting busy, it goes into an idle state if the number of customers or items is not sufficient, otherwise, it will take another vacation. Furthermore, each server's vacation period occurs independently of the other servers. The system accepts a (s, Q) control policy for inventory replenishment. For the steady state analysis, the Marcel F Neuts and B Madhu Rao matrix geometric approximation approach is used owing to the structure of an infinitesimal generator matrix. The necessary stability condition and R matrix are to be computed and presented. After calculating the sufficient system performance measures, an expected total cost of the system is to be constructed and numerically incorporated with the parameters. Additionally, numerical analyses will be conducted to examine the waiting time of customers in the queue and in orbit, as well as the expected rate of customer loss.Comment: 43 pages, 12 figures, 5 table

A MARKOVIAN TWO COMMODITY QUEUEING–INVENTORY SYSTEM WITH COMPLIMENT ITEM AND CLASSICAL RETRIAL FACILITY

This paper explores the two-commodity (TC) inventory system in which commodities are classified as major and complementary items. The system allows a customer who has purchased a free product to conduct Bernoulli trials at will. Under the Bernoulli schedule, any entering customer will quickly enter an orbit of infinite capability during the stock-out time of the major item. The arrival of a retrial customer in the system follows a classical retrial policy. These two products' re-ordering process occurs under the $(s, Q)$ and instantaneous ordering policies for the major and complimentary items, respectively. A comprehensive analysis of the retrial queue, including the system's stability and the steady-state distribution of the retrial queue with the stock levels of two commodities, is carried out. The various system operations are measured under the stability condition. Finally, numerical evidence has shown the benefits of the proposed model under different random situations

The chaotic behavior of the black hole system GRS 1915+105

A modified non-linear time series analysis technique, which computes the correlation dimension $D_2$, is used to analyze the X-ray light curves of the black hole system GRS 1915+105 in all twelve temporal classes. For four of these temporal classes $D_2$ saturates to $\approx 4-5$ which indicates that the underlying dynamical mechanism is a low dimensional chaotic system. Of the other eight classes, three show stochastic behavior while five show deviation from randomness. The light curves for four classes which depict chaotic behavior have the smallest ratio of the expected Poisson noise to the variability ($< 0.05$) while those for the three classes which depict stochastic behavior is the highest ($> 0.2$). This suggests that the temporal behavior of the black hole system is governed by a low dimensional chaotic system, whose nature is detectable only when the Poisson fluctuations are much smaller than the variability.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa