Time, Shadows, Terrain and Photointerpretation

Simulated aerial photography to enhance photointerpretation of terrain at various sun angle

Not What It Was and Not What It Will Be: The Future of Job Design Research

This summary commentary explores the likely future directions of research and theory on the design of organizational work. We give special attention to the social aspects of contemporary work, the process by which jobholders craft their own jobs, the changing contexts within which work is performed, and the increasing prominence of work that is performed by teams rather than individualsPsycholog

The Cyclic Loading Behavior of Grouted Sand

A two-phased static and dynamic laboratory investigation of the behavior of a silicate grout stabilized sand has been undertaken. Through the use of load-controlled cyclic triaxial testing the dynamic strength, stiffness, and deformation characteristics have been assessed as a function of mix design, confinerrent level and loading history. Comparisons between static and dynamic properties are provided

Predictors of Behavioral Competence and Self-Esteem: A Study Assessing Impact in a Basic Public Speaking Course

As evaluation in higher education receives increasing attention, the assessment of the impact of basic oral communication instruction is becoming more important. This study examines the impact of a public speaking course on undergraduates\u27 affective and behavioral competence. Using a pre- and posttest model, assessment was based on administration of the Communication Competency Assessment Instrument and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale at the beginning and end of the course. Communication competence and self-esteem were measured as a function of communication apprehension, gender, age, and ethnicity. Results indicated that the course generally impacted similarly on students regardless of their level of communication apprehension, gender, age or ethnicity

Predictors of Self-Perceptions of Behavioral Competence, Self-Esteem, and Willingness to Communicate: A Study Assessing Impact in a Basic Interpersonal Communication Course

Considering the emergent role of evaluation in higher education, it is important that assessment procedures be developed for all communication courses. Courses such as public speaking already have well established assessment programs while other courses are in need of additional attention. This article describes an assessment program that examines the impact of an interpersonal course on undergraduates\u27 self-perceived behavioral and affective competence. Using a pre- and post-test model, assessment was based on administration of the Communication Behaviors Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and the Willingness to Communicate Scale. These outcomes were measured as a function of gender, age, and ethnicity. Results indicated that the course impacted similarly on students regardless of these predictor variables, with significant improvement being demonstrated for all groups of students. The article provides a description of the interpersonal course and its assessment procedures. The results of analyses of data are presented with a discussion of future directions for assessment in this course

Carrying the torch: Five faculty members’ experiences as champions of assessment

This phenomenological study examined the lived experience of community college faculty champions of learning outcomes assessment. This study sought to elucidate the experiences of faculty champions of assessment by exploring both what the participants experienced as well as how they experienced their roles in leading assessment work on their campus, in order to describe the essence of the faculty champions’ experience leading assessment work. Faculty champions of assessment at a community college were interviewed to explore: how they became engaged in learning outcomes assessment, how they describe the phenomenon of their engagement in learning outcomes assessment, and how they describe meaningful faculty support for engagement in learning outcomes assessment. Five faculty champions were selected to participate in this study, based on their substantial engagement in learning outcomes assessment at their community college. Data gathered from the five participants through two in-depth interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. Data analysis and interpretation were guided by the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen (Moustakas, 1994) method of phenomenological analysis, as well as through the lens of organizational leadership theory using Bolman & Deal’s (2013) four-frame model for understanding organizational behavior. Key findings from this study suggest that paths of faculty champions of assessment in community colleges to their roles in assessment were unintentional and formative; participants also experienced strong connections between their assessment work and teaching, which facilitated their engagement as champions of assessment. Participants described distinct roles they experienced as champions of assessment, including the roles of leader, learner, implementer, teacher, analyst, partner, and advocate. This study suggests that whereas faculty champions experience their leadership roles as essential and meaningful, their engagement and leadership are further strengthened when they feel empowered and supported by administration; when they do not feel supported and empowered, they may withdraw and disengage from their roles as champions of assessment. This research contributes to the field of higher education by illuminating the experiences of faculty champions in assessment, and expanding researchers’ and practitioners’ understandings of the essential roles of faculty champions in leading assessment work. Results will be useful to inform administrators’ support of faculty champions, community college faculty members’ understanding of their important leadership roles in assessment, and the design of future qualitative and quantitative studies of faculty engagement in learning outcomes assessment

Voice Flows To And Around Leaders: Understanding When Units Are Helped Or Hurt By Employee Voice

In two studies, we develop and test theory about the relationship between speaking up, one type of organizational citizenship behavior, and unit performance by accounting for where employee voice is flowing. Results from a qualitative study of managers and professionals across a variety of industries suggest that voice to targets at different formal power levels (peers or superiors) and locations in the organization (inside or outside a focal unit) differs systematically in terms of its usefulness in generating actions to a unit's benefit on the issues raised and in the likely information value of the ideas expressed. We then theorize how distinct voice flows should be differentially related to unit performance based on these core characteristics and test our hypotheses using time-lagged field data from 801 employees and their managers in 93 units across nine North American credit unions. Results demonstrate that voice flows are positively related to a unit's effectiveness when they are targeted at the focal leader of that unitwho should be able to take actionwhether from that leader's own subordinates or those in other units, and negatively related to a unit's effectiveness when they are targeted at coworkers who have little power to effect change. Together, these studies provide a structural framework for studying the nature and impact of multiple voice flows, some along formal reporting lines and others that reflect the informal communication structure within organizations. This research demonstrates that understanding the potential performance benefits and costs of voice for leaders and their units requires attention to the structure and complexity of multiple voice flows rather than to an undifferentiated amount of voice.Business Administratio

Doppler images and the underlying dynamo. The case of AF Leporis

The (Zeeman-)Doppler imaging studies of solar-type stars very often reveal large high-latitude spots. This also includes F stars that possess relatively shallow convection zones, indicating that the dynamo operating in these stars differs from the solar dynamo. We aim to determine whether mean-field dynamo models of late-F type dwarf stars can reproduce the surface features recovered in Doppler maps. In particular, we wish to test whether the models can reproduce the high-latitude spots observed on some F dwarfs. The photometric inversions and the surface temperature maps of AF Lep were obtained using the Occamian-approach inversion technique. Low signal-to-noise spectroscopic data were improved by applying the least-squares deconvolution method. The locations of strong magnetic flux in the stellar tachocline as well as the surface fields obtained from mean-field dynamo solutions were compared with the observed surface temperature maps. The photometric record of AF Lep reveals both long- and short-term variability. However, the current data set is too short for cycle-length estimates. From the photometry, we have determined the rotation period of the star to be 0.9660+-0.0023 days. The surface temperature maps show a dominant, but evolving, high-latitude (around +65 degrees) spot. Detailed study of the photometry reveals that sometimes the spot coverage varies only marginally over a long time, and at other times it varies rapidly. Of a suite of dynamo models, the model with a radiative interior rotating as fast as the convection zone at the equator delivered the highest compatibility with the obtained Doppler images.Comment: accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

The Evidence Chamber: Playful Science Communication and Research Through Digital Storytelling

In a courtroom, it is essential that the scientific evidence is both understandable and understood, so that the strengths and limitations of that evidence, within the context of a legal case, can inform decision making. The Evidence Chamber brings together entertainment, public engagement with science and research into a public performance activity that is centred around digital storytelling and science communication. This experience engages public audiences with science and allows a better understanding of how people interpret scientific evidence. In this paper, we discuss how we created this experience as an in-person and fully virtual performance through successful collaboration between forensic science research, public audiences, public engagement professionals, the legal profession, and digital performance artists